Still Waters 3 Book 2: Day to Day
by RedPBass
Summary: Now that the festival is over, everyone is preparing for the big trip to the magic world. It's the first time the old 3-A has all gathered in one place since their graduation; what awaits them now? Alternate Timeline, OCs. The end of Book 2 nears. An incident in the magic world...? Chapter 29, It's Time, is up.
1. SW3 Book 2: Prologue

**Still Waters 3, Book 2: Day to Day, Prologue**

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><p><em>Megalomesembrian Senate Offices Building<em>

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><p>The echoing of his footsteps preceded Kurt Godel as he stalked up to the senate offices of one Ocali Kaunt, member of the Megalomesembrian Senate, whose sphere of influence rivaled Kurt's own. He paused before the door, the report he had received moments ago crushed in his clenched fist. He somehow managed to refrain from kicking the door in and took a series of deep, calming breaths in order to quell the rage generated by the report he had so recently received.<p>

Ocali had really done it this time. Kurt himself had no love for the man, who had appeared mysteriously during the war all those years ago and somehow ended up in a minor position of power. From there, he had wormed his way up through the ranks until he became a member of the Megalomesembrian Senate, and was now considered one of the most powerful men in the world, though he wasn't anywhere near as well known as Kurt Godel, oh no. Ocali Kaunt preferred to work behind the scenes, for the most part; a mysterious presence upon whom no blame could be attached when things went wrong.

Kurt swept his hair out of his eyes and took another deep breath. Going up against Ocali Kaunt when you were angry was a bad idea in the best of times; with his health failing like it was, he knew the other man was just waiting for a chance to take him out of the picture.

What was even worse was that Ocali had of late moved beyond waiting for things to happen and jumping in afterward to pick up the pieces; he had already been instrumental in forcing several opposing senators out of office, though no one had any solid evidence for it. And now, with the Elf issue, Kurt's most recent pet project for stabilization, it was obvious who Ocali's next target was. The man was ruthless.

He heard voices speaking on the other side of the door, but couldn't make out any details. Well, it was now or never, and this issue had to be addressed immediately if anything was to be done to prevent a political disaster. He knocked on the door and was let in by a rather nervous looking young female intern. He thanked her and stood there in front of Ocali's desk, his eyes locked with the man himself.

"Godel," Ocali said.

"Kaunt," Kurt replied.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Ocali asked, his tone indicating clearly that it was anything but a pleasure to have Kurt standing in his office.

"A private matter," Kurt replied, glancing at the intern.

"Leave us," Ocali said to the girl, who hurried out and shut the door behind her. "Now then, let us-"

"What is the meaning of this?" Kurt interrupted oh-so-calmly as he held up the report he had been given earlier.

Ocali cocked an eyebrow and took the report, smoothing its crinkles on the surface on his desk. He bent over it for a moment, peering at it closely before sitting back up straight in his chair, nodding. "Ah, I see. The execution."

"Yes," Kurt said, straining to keep his temper under control. "The execution. He was found innocent."

"The elf, Mr. Godel," Ocali said, looking at him as if he was a stupid child, "was found 'not guilty'; he was not found 'innocent'. And in any case, the court of public opinion indicates what should happen to the elf in question. The judge who gave the verdict has already been arrested on suspicion of corruption."

Kurt just stood there for a moment, a vague sense of unreality assailing him from all sides. "The 'court of public opinion'? Since when have _the people_ had the last word- Wait, _corruption_?" he said, accidentally letting his composure slip. That judge was an old friend of his; they had entered the political spectrum at roughly the same time, and had worked together many times in the past.

"My my, and I thought you were a veteran politician, Mr. Godel," Ocali said, his condescending expression nearly driving Kurt over the edge; as it was, he had to clench his teeth to keep from saying something stupid. "The court of public opinion is _everything_. Someone murdered the mayor of Megalomesembria and his family, and the elf was found at the scene of the crime and the judge who found him innocent was well known to be critical of the mayor's policies. The conclusion, the _only_ conclusion in the minds of the public, has already been decided."

Again, that sense of unreality struck Kurt as he stood there looking at Ocali. Had Ocali really, truly, just said what he thought he had said? He had known Ocali wasn't exactly trustworthy, but _this_...

"My my, you appear to be ill, Mr. Godel," Ocali said. "Why don't you take a seat. You should be very careful; I understand your health is _quite_ fragile. The execution will be over shortly; you might as well sit back and reflect on a job well done. The public will applaud the decision to rapidly bring the criminal to justice, and the reputation of the senate itself will improve. Scotch?" he said, indicating a bottle on a shelf behind him.

Kurt, numb, shook his head mutely as he tried to calculate the political ramifications of the execution as a way of distracting himself from the sheer insanity of the situation. Without a doubt, the elf in question was innocent. Grainy video from inside the mayor's home clearly showed a human had committed the crime in question (though the video hadn't been clear enough to identify the criminal), and he had reason to believe the elf, a young son of some noble house, was the same one who witnesses reported had been abducted from the roadside almost a month ago. The elven diplomat here in the capital, an old friend, proud and stubborn, would need to be extremely careful in the ensuing witchhunt after the execution, and would need a bodyguard around the clock to protect him from angry citizens; the Alliance's diplomatic relations with the Elves would also be strained by the situation, made even worse by the fact that Ocali had been pushing through bills that seemed okay on the outside, but tended to have the side effect of damaging trade, immigration, or other relations with the elves and other groups. Godel was no angel, but this level of aggression was insane! His mouth went on auto-pilot to deal with the formalities of his impromptu meeting with Ocali and excuse himself as his mind raced.

So Ocali was pushing the elves. Why? Because Kurt was trying to forge a permanent peace with them for the sake of world stability? Or perhaps...a scapegoat? War? To what purpose? These thoughts occupied Kurt's mind as he made his way back to his office afterward. Ocali's actions over the past several years struck him as rather suspicious; Ocali's actions had directly resulted in one war already, between two small members of the Alliance in the far north. Senate forces had gone in and occupied both countries, seizing the leaders and declaring a police state; the other countries in the region had become nervous after that, and several had withdrawn from the Alliance altogether in protest. Tempers in the region were rising, and things could get ugly very quickly if talks weren't handled carefully. In fact, war with the Hellas Empire had almost broken out again a year ago, halted only by the frantic work of many politicians on both sides, resulting indirectly from a farming bill pushed through the senate by Ocali. Things were getting very, very dangerous, and now with the trouble with the Gray Knights building up again...he sighed irritably as he walked along in the hallway, accidentally frightening a group of young interns. Zealots, the lot of them. The problem with the Gray Knights, of course, was their numbers; while their total size was unknown, they _did_ possess a sizable combat force larger than even the great mercenary guilds, unallied to any country, following some secret ideal no one outside the group knew about, despite repeated attempts at infiltration. And now, with time growing so short for both him _and_ Mundus Magicus, he was bogged down by that fool Ocali trying to start another war. But no, that wasn't precisely correct; Ocali was no fool, he knew exactly what he was doing, and what getting into another war would mean at this juncture. Which, of course, brought Kurt right back to the beginning: _Why_?

Kurt continued on down the hall.

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><p>Meanwhile, in an ancient, well built mountaintop fortress dating from the time of the third demon war, a group of four priests, the three members of the council, and the man who held the title of The Warden were gathered around a table in the council chamber. Each chair at the table, the priests on the east side, the council members on the west, and The Warden on the south, was filled but for the largest, most elaborately decorated chair, which sat empty at the head of the table. The Daughter's Seat had not yet found its occupant.<p>

"...and with the formalities completed, should we come to the point of the meeting?" the priestess Arlana said impatiently. There was a general muttering agreement all around, except for Ari Sigurd, The Warden, who maintained his stoic silence.

"Very well," councilwoman Edie Blythe said as she opened the folder before her on the table. "We have made progress in locating the Daughter."

"This isn't a false alarm, like the girl from America?" the priest Rudolph asked.

"No; that was merely a coincidence. You must understand, the likelihood of a stranger resembling the Daughter to such a degree is extremely low; we have a confirmed match." This announcement was met with excited murmuring.

"Well where is she?" Arlana demanded.

Edie smiled. It wasn't a pretty smile. She removed several copies of a map from her folder and passed them around. "As you can tell by the map, we have her location pinpointed; at this point it is simply a matter of getting our people in there on the ground and taking her."

"I do not recognize this area," councilman Braden Xyrely said, cocking an eyebrow as he looked at Edie.

"That would be because it's on Mundus Vetus, part of a city called, I believe, 'Mahora'."

Silence descended again.

"...this will require us to use the gateport system," Beccan Bloodleaf, the only elf on the council, said, his forehead wrinkling as he began calculating what would be needed to accomplish their task. "After what happened the last time, it will be difficult; we can't use the same group. The new ones will need false identification papers, money, the sort of clothing necessary to blend in..."

"Training," the priest Peter added.

"Training to fit in with society," Beccan said, nodding agreeably with the other man. The infamous Beccan Bloodleaf respected few people, but it was obvious Peter was one of them.

"That will take time," Arlana said.

Edie bristled. "Of course it will, what are you, stu-"

"Be quiet."

The table went dead silent at The Warden's statement. Technically, his only purpose was to be the Daughter's bodyguard, confidant, right-hand-man, even her lover if she so desired, but as a naturally imposing, quiet, stoic sort of man in a high (if all but powerless) position, Ari Sigurd carried a lot of weight, and his mere presence was often enough to stop a furious argument in its tracks. When he spoke, other people listened. He focused his gaze on Edie. "You are sure she is there?"

Edie swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, and nodded. "One hundred percent." She had always been a little scared of both his size and his odd silent manner.

Ari sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Two teams, each led by an adept. Five to ten initiates each. Anything more would be unwieldy, anything less wouldn't be enough."

The others looked at each other thoughtfully. Ari had put all their arguments aside and set up their team structure for them in the space of three sentences. When it looked like he wouldn't speak again, councilman Braden spoke up instead, fingering the dagger he always carried.

"Cort would be good, maybe Amos as well." The two were quite competent at what they did, and Braden knew Cort from way back, long before the two of them had joined up here. He took out his dagger and began spinning it.

The others nodded or otherwise indicated their agreement, and after hashing out a few more details and getting Beccan's timeline estimate ("We should be able to have people there on the ground by late June"), the council members and priests left. Ari sat there for a long, long time, looking at the empty chair across from him at the other end of the table. Finally he, too, stood up and exited the room, leaving it, once again, in silence.

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><p>The two hooded figures slipped into the enormous torch-lit cavern, moving quietly among the deep shadows at the back of the crowd.<p>

"So, this is it," the first figure, shorter than the other, said in a feminine voice. Her hood hid most of her face, but occasionally the flickering torchlight revealed brief glimpses of a face that could not quite be considered pretty, but was far from unattractive.

"That's right," the second replied. His hood hid his whole face deep in shadow, and he moved with a catlike ease obvious in spite of the thick robes he wore.

The noise of the crowd picked up and the two hooded figures, just two among hundreds of similarly garbed (if much differently shaped) folk, looked up at the raised dais at the far end of the cavern as a strapping young demon strolled up onto the stage, simply oozing charisma as he surveyed the crowd, a small confident smile on his face.

"Well I must say he _is_ quite attractive," the female figure said.

"...that's a little disturbing," the male figure replied. "Quiet, he's about to start."

"Welcome!" the demon on stage said, and the crowd roared its approval. The two hooded figures were obliged to do the same, lest they stand out too much from those around them. The demon up on stage began speaking, his deep voice oddly compelling as it rolled over the crowd. The male figure glanced at the female and gave her a sharp nudge, startling her.

"He has a Commanding Voice. It'll snare you if you aren't careful," he explained quietly. The female figure nodded shamefully and turned her attention back to the crowd as a whole rather than the demon on stage. Like herself and her companion, a full third of the audience had hidden themselves in hooded cloaks or robes of some sort to mask their identities; no doubt for safety's sake. If one involved in, say, high level politics, was seen to attend one of these speeches, one would be quite likely to attract the wrong sort of attention; the type that typically ended up with someone in prison for half of their life.

"Shameful," she muttered. Truly, who was trustworthy...? Her advisor was one of the small handful of people she found she could honestly trust; her best friend had trusted him enough to bear his child, after all. She heard a familiar name mentioned and looked back at the stage.

"-shameful!" the demon bellowed. "Queen Kelory has done nothing but weaken demon pride! Truces? Alliances with the leaders of Mundus Magicus? Ha!" This was met with a near-universal roar of approval, and the female figure looked around in shock at what she was witnessing.

"Easy, easy, milady," the male figure said.

The demon up on stage continued. "And we are to be content with a little patch of desert land in Mundus Magicus? A few miles of sand and rock just outside the Demon Gate? What good will that do us? Travel is restricted, war is restricted, only a chosen few allowed to leave at any time? Even those filthy inferior youkai are treated better than that! Bah! What happened to our pride? Are we to be treated like trash, like diseased cattle, culled from the herd?"

"He is quite good," the male figure said. The female figure didn't respond.

"We are strong! We are superior! The humans are weak, the youkai filthy and ignorant! And the oni, don't get me started on the oni, those disgusting pigs, rotting away in their little corner of the world...! They accepted their punishment from the humans. Are we no better than the _oni_?" his tone of disgust met with a roar of approval; demons traditionally held no love for the humans who had fought them to a draw again and again, less still for the groups that had splintered off back during the demon wars and become the youkai and oni. Elves, beastmen, sprites, fairies...all others were typically ignored or lumped in somewhere between the humans and the youkai.

"This is disgusting," the female figure said. "He wouldn't dare to say these things in the council-"

"Of course not," the male figure replied. "That is why he holds these speeches. I received word that he also has his agents come into these small towns before his arrival to spread dissension and gain more support for his cause. He is no amateur."

The female figure clenched her fists in frustration. Had she not been afraid of being forced to fight off almost a thousand demons, she would have shoved her way up to the stage and decked the frustrating young demon then and there. How _infuriating_ he was...! Lucian Ramenthy, heir of the infamous Ramenthy family...a dangerous foe indeed, now that she had allowed things to come this far. Something he said caught her attention again. "Oh no, please no..."

"And so we only have one choice, one way to regain our rightful demon pride! We must rise together, and cast down our sweet, naïve little girl of a queen! Cast her down, and raise a _true_ demon in her place! Someone with the strength of will and the power to do what is necessary, what is right for all demons, everywhere!"

"I...I think I may be sick," the female figure said quietly, her voice utterly lost in the deafening roar of the crowd.

"And then," the charismatic young demon on stage said, lowering his voice in order to grab the attention of the crowd and put them further under his spell, "and then we can go on from this world; we can move on to the next one and show the others who the _rightful_ owners of Mundus Magicus are. The humans and the elves and the other trash deserve to be swept aside, and when that is done...perhaps...just perhaps..." he trailed off, looking down at his hands as if contemplating the power of a single demon compared to that of a whole world, and he had the crowd wrapped around his little finger. He abruptly made a fist and looked up at the crowd with fire in his eyes. "Mundus Vetus!"

The crowd's response was deafening, and the two hooded figures took this opportunity to slip out unnoticed.

Outside, the male figure wasted no time, swiftly leading the female figure away from the cavern and off into the brush. He continued on until he judged they were a safe distance away, and spoke.

"So what did you think?"

The female figure pushed back her hood in order to better feel the night breeze on her face; it was very refreshing after the dank, smoke-filled cavern. "He is...quite insane."

"Maybe," the male figure said as he looked around, watching for anyone who might stumble upon them. "He believes in what he says, at least, and it's good for you to know your enemies. Put that hood back up; it's not safe for you here."

The Demon Queen Kelory Omeris reluctantly pulled the hood back up over her head so that her surprisingly human face was again hidden in shadows. "I do believe he could convince them even without that Commanding Voice you were talking about."

"Maybe," the male figure replied. "Come on, I promised her I would I help you, and I can't do that if we hang around here until you get lynched," he said, taking her hand to lead her back to their vehicle. She couldn't help but blush in the darkness under her hood at the contact; her adviser had always been so kind to her, no wonder her best friend had...

The two of them continued on in the darkness.

* * *

><p>Ocali Kaunt locked up his business office and rode the elevator down to ground level. Once there, he nodded to the security guards, who nodded back, and stepped out into the street, easily merging with the crowd. Like many politicians, Ocali's face had been splashed across newspapers and news shows many times in the past, but he moved through the streets unnoticed. Fortunately, his face was rather forgettable and his presence could be almost entirely missed, if he so wished.<p>

He made his way to his estate, located in a small community of the rich and famous. Magical wards protected each residence, and those among his neighbors who could afford it kept full security squads on hand at all times. He continued on past the summer home of the Prince of Tristan, the estate a famous female reporter had built for her secret beastman lover, and the traditional manor of the Youkai King, what amounted to a squalid hovel of only twenty eight thousand square feet among the much more lavish mansions surrounding it, unlived in but for the cleaning crew, security team, groundskeepers, and the overseer, who was in charge of running the house until the Youkai King decided to grace it with his presence; the overseer would likely be waiting for quite some time, as there wasn't a Youkai King at all at the moment...hadn't been for several hundred years. Ocali's own mansion, the next in line on the long street, dwarfed it; a little over a hundred and twenty thousand square feet, it wasn't the largest here, but anywhere else in Mundus Magicus short of the capital city of the Hellas Empire, it would have excited much comment with its towering structure and sprawling outbuildings, not to mention the private lake, elaborate gardens, and miniature forest complete with live deer. Ocali let himself in at the gate, nodded to his assistant, the tall, strong-looking man waiting for him beside the gatehouse, and set off up the long driveway toward the main house at a steady, measured pace while his assistant followed along, relaying news and rumors sent by the agents Ocali had planted all around the world.

He nodded at the security guard at the door and entered the house, his assistant following. Ocali listened without comment as he walked along and began climbing the elaborate spiral staircase that dominated the enormous entry room, itself larger than many regular houses. He climbed up to the top of the staircase and stepped off on the sixth floor, nodding in acknowledgment at the report of the amazing accomplishment of one of his agents stationed in Mundus Vetus; the man had, after years of work, finally wormed himself into a high ranking position that, in due time, would allow him major access to certain resources that would hasten-

Ocali paused in front of the door to his library and stood looking at it for a moment.

"Ocali? Sir?" his assistant asked.

"Leave me, Kagan. I will listen to the rest of your report after supper," Ocali said. When the other man was gone, he opened the door and stepped inside, pulling it softly shut after him. His home library was quite large, the walls lined with bookshelves filled to the brim with rare and unique texts on any subject one might imagine; his agents had standing orders to send any and all special books they might discover on to him here at his home. It was his only vice; hoarding knowledge... useful to him, potentially dangerous in the hands of his enemies, or utterly inconsequential, he wanted all of it.

"Ah, there you are; I was wondering when you would get back."

And there, seated in his huge, exquisitely constructed chair with her feet propped up on his insanely expensive desk made of sapient pearwood, was what was, by all appearances, a young human girl.

"I did not anticipate your presence," Ocali said carefully. The girl looked at him, smiled the way a robot or an alien who had only viewed humans from a distance and wished to appear like them might have smiled, and dropped her booted feet off the desktop. She stood up and strolled around the desk to stand in front of Ocali, still making that hideous smile, and put her hands on her hips as she looked up at him with her dead gray eyes.

"Have you become independent?" she asked.

"No."

"Good," she replied as she turned around to show him her back. "Now tell me, is this a good color, or is this one better?" she asked as her long hair shifted from blood red to a shade of blonde so unnaturally blonde that it was like the average of all blondes, everywhere. "I like the appearance of the first, but from my observations, the second color appears more popular among humankind."

"The second is indeed the preferred color," Ocali observed after a moment's calculation. "However, I have noticed most girls of your apparent age in this region with hair of that length tie it back, like so," he said as he towered over her, carefully taking her long hair in his hands and separating it into two long pigtails. He had a brief thought about how she appeared so frail and light that he could probably snap her in half like a twig, but he quickly dismissed it; any attempt to do so would be suicide, and he was not yet finished with life, or his version thereof.

"Very well, it will be so," the girl said as she popped two strings into existence and held them out to Ocali, who took them silently and tied the pigtails in place. She popped a mirror into existence to get a good look at herself, then let it drop and shatter on the floor when she was satisfied. "Moving among them unnoticed is surprisingly difficult; how do you do this so easily?" she asked as she took her seat again.

"One grows accustomed to it, over time," he observed. He remained standing, ignoring the broken glass.

"One grows accustomed to it...what a bore," she said. "I don't want to wait that long, but there is no choice, huh...oh well. If I kill a few it'll be fine."

"That would be...unwise, I am afraid," Ocali replied. "The local authorities frown upon such things."

"Damn," the little girl said, a look of mild annoyance on her face. "Oh well. I guess it doesn't really matter, then. Anyway, tell me what you've been up to since the last time."

Ocali bowed his head. "Of course, Master."


	2. Ch 1 Death

**Still Waters 3, Book 2: Day to Day, Chapter 1, Death**

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><p><em>Dreams of War, Dreams of Liars, Dreams of Dragon's Fire<em>

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><p><em>Thursday, June 18th, 2009<em>

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><p>The day after the vampire hunt that had turned Mahora on its ear, everything, strangely enough, was normal, much to the confusion of those who had never been involved in such things before. It was an old, well-practiced system put in place half a decade before and put into practice a dozen or more times since its inception; property damage was hidden behind excuses of 'Emergency Construction', mind controlled thugs were 'arrested', healed, and un-brainwashed, injured civilians, more this time than there usually were in such events, kept the mage healers busy most of the night, all of which was followed by a good dose of memory wipes all around. As far as the town as a whole was concerned, it was just another day in Mahora. Sure, lots of people reported trouble sleeping the next morning, but…overall, as far as most were concerned, everything was fine and the city was starting to gear up for the upcoming festival it threw every year in June.<p>

Not everyone was happy though, and for good reason. Negi's kidnapped student, Possum Cade, was still missing, Asuna was still moping around, and the city had suffered quite a bit of damage.

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><p>Several strips of sunlight fell across a small room with two western-style beds crammed into it. The occupant of the bed closest to the window lay stretched out on her mattress with her eyes open. She was so still one might have thought she was no longer among the living but for the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.<p>

The occupant of the other bed, curled into a fetal position, twitched from time to time and occasionally let out a small moan, as if she might be having a nightmare. She had hours earlier kicked her blanket off, and it now lay rumpled on the floor at the foot of her bed. If one looked closely, one might see where tears had tracked across her face in her sleep.

The alarm clock on the small table between the two beds switched from 6:29 to 6:30 and abruptly let out a shrill ring.

The girl in the fetal position bolted upright, looking around wildly, but her sister in the other bed remained still.

Maple Birdsong reached out with a shaky hand and turned off the alarm and looked around at the familiar room. "Just a dream," she said to herself as she ran a shaky hand through her sweat soaked hair. It was starting to get long again. 'Almost time for another haircut', she thought in a sad attempt to distract herself from the nightmare the ringing alarm clock had saved her from. She stood up shakily and glanced over at her sister, then turned on the cheap radio she had found a few weeks before and tuned it to a station that played rock music. A moment later, her sister Trinity began to breathe faster as she slowly rose out of whatever fog she had fallen into in the night. She didn't come all the way up, she never did that, but sometimes her eyes would move a little or she would twitch her fingers, and once last week she had turned her head. Maple observed all of this with a sense of detachment. She was still fighting her way out of her own fog; the nightmares often remained fresh in her mind for hours after waking. Sometimes it was almost time for lunch before they departed completely.

She glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall and grunted. "Happy birthday, Trin. We're nineteen today." Trinity didn't respond.

Maple peeled off her sweaty clothes and threw them into the bucket that served the two sisters as a clothes hamper and went into the tiny bathroom to wash her face. She looked in the mirror tiredly, and didn't like what she saw. Eyes that looked rather sunken with bags underneath, messy, sweaty, gross looking dirty blonde hair, skin and face still pale from the terrors of her dreams…she shuddered and looked away. No time for that.

She leaned over and twisted the knobs in the shower to start the water and adjusted the temperature, then stripped off her underwear and stepped under the soothing water. As usual, the hot water didn't last long, but that was okay; she took fast showers.

She dried herself off and threw on some clean clothes, then went to the small table in the corner of the room and took a piece of stale bread from the bag there. She checked the miniature fridge, already knowing what she would find there, and closed it with a sigh when she found it as empty as she had expected. The bread was the last food in the tiny house; she would have to get some money somehow…

She looked at the bread bag again as she finished her breakfast, thought about taking the last two pieces, then thought better of it. Trin would need it more than she did. She put on her old, badly worn work boots and stood for a moment, listening to Trinity's breathing, barely audible with the radio on, even with the volume turned as low as it was.

"I'm checking on the garden, Trin. If you need anything, call me."

She waited a moment. Had Trinity's breathing changed…? Probably not. She opened the door and stepped out into the early morning sunlight and went around to the side of the dilapidated old house where she had planted her garden. The tomatoes were coming in nicely, but the watermelons seemed to be suffering…she would have to do something about that, but it would have to wait for later. First, she would get the paper.

She walked up to the road and spotted the corpse of a local cat that she fed from time to time. The poor thing had been hit by a car at some point early last night, judging by what she could see. She took the paper from its box and headed back inside, where she opened a drawer and rooted around inside for a moment before taking up a keyring. She grabbed a plastic grocery store bag and headed back outside and straight to the small tool shed she had built several years back with help from Negi, back in high school after she moved out of the dorm. She removed the padlock and opened the door, waiting for a moment as she took in the smells from inside. Apparently, she hadn't cleaned her chainsaw well enough; it still stank of those black creatures' blood from last night. Well, no matter. She wrinkled her nose at the smell as she went inside and looked at the row of long-handled gardening tools hanging on the left wall. She selected a shovel and went back outside, closed and locked the door, then went back to the house and peeked in.

"Trin, I'll be back in a while. Stay inside, okay?" As usual, there was no response. She closed the door and headed out to the road. That poor cat… She set about putting the remains of the cat into the plastic bag.

* * *

><p>Negi finished calling roll and took up a piece of chalk. "Okay everyone, we've put it off long enough. And even though the festival is a week later this year, you need to start working on your class project soon." He waited a moment for the expected commotion to die down, marveling at the class's wild enthusiasm, a legacy carried down from his first class, apparently. "Today, let's decide on what the class will do. Any suggestions?" A dozen hands shot up at once. "Sasaki Rina-san?"<p>

"Um…um…a maid café!"

That suggestion was followed by groans and complaints.

"That's so old fashioned. We should do something more modern, like a concert!" Kobayashi Ayumi, guitarist for the unfortunately named 'No Name Band', interjected.

"That would only be good for you. What about the rest of us?" another student asked curiously.

"What, you actually want to participate for once, Takahashi?"

"Class, quiet down please, quiet down," Negi said, unconsciously using his charm to get them to obey. "Iincho-san? Please come up here and write the suggestions on the board. We will take a vote when everyone is done."

Sachiko approached the chalkboard without comment and took the piece of chalk Negi offered.

The class murmured for a moment.

"Well, I suppose a maid café is one of the basics, after all," Mochizuki Kagami said, barely holding back a yawn. She was still exhausted from the events of the night before, but somehow not as much as her roommate Endo Haru, who had been too tired to get up this morning. She knew Haru had been involved somehow, but no one had given her any details. "How about a haunted house or a cosplay café?"

"Fortune telling," Ono Ran said after a moment's thought. "What?" she asked when everyone looked at her warily.

"Well…I'm kinda scared of what you'll predict," the transfer student Rosemary Dean said; others nodded in agreement. Ono Ran was known for the accuracy of her predictions, and what she predicted was mostly bad.

"Does anyone else have a suggestion?" Negi asked when the class had fallen silent. "Last chance…"

"A survey!" someone in the back yelled. This was followed by more groans and sighs.

"A scavenger hunt!" someone else said.

"No, let's do a yakisoba stand."

Negi raised his hands to quiet the class, but by then it was too late; the beast that was class 2-A had been let loose.

"Baseball game!"

"Stuffed animal café!"

"No, I've got it! A _haunted_ stuffed animal café! There'll be lots of dogs and cats inside, and they'll all be dead!"

"Uh…"

The discussion went on and on while the suggestions got worse and worse.

"Bat catching clinic!"

Negi sighed wearily and glanced at the board, where Sachiko was scribbling furiously with the chalk in an effort to keep up with the flow of suggestions.

And then…the chalk snapped. A small chunk flew off and smacked Sachiko in the face, while the majority of the piece fell to the floor and rolled away.

Sachiko stood frozen in place for a moment, facing the chalkboard, still holding what remained of the piece of chalk up.

"Videogame tournament!"

"Hey, that one's actually pretty good…"

"No it ain't, let's do a beauty parlor, but for cats!"

The sound of a piece of chalk being ground into the chalkboard brought Negi's attention back to Sachiko, who still hadn't moved. "I think you can sit down now, Iincho. It doesn't seem as if-"

Sachiko whipped around, dragging the chalk across the board with a horrible chalky squeal that drew cries of agony from the class and left a streak of white halfway across the chalkboard. She swept the classroom with an icy stare, ending the chatter in an instant. Then she spoke two words:

"Art gallery."

"Art gallery? Why would we do an-ack!" Ayumi said, interrupted as a flying piece of precision chalk drilled her in the forehead, knocking her backwards out of her seat.

"Art gallery," Sachiko said again, daring anyone else to speak out against her suggestion.

There was utter silence for a full fifteen seconds before Negi realized he should probably say something.

"So, who wants to do an art gallery for the class project?"

Of the twenty one students present, not including the class rep Sachiko and the now unconscious Ayumi, twenty one hands went up, albeit hesitantly.

"Okay, art gallery it is," Negi confirmed. "Will someone please help Ayumi-san up?"

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey, you."<em>

_Haru looked up from her homework and glanced over to Kagami's bed, where a large white wolf-like creature was lying comfortably on its back with its legs poking up in the air._

"_What?"_

"_So...is there anything to do around here?" it asked as it looked at her._

_Haru just blinked a couple times. "...excuse me?"_

"_Well," the wolf thing said as it rolled over on its side and looked at her. "It's just that I've been asleep so long, I was at least hoping there was _something_ to keep me entertained around here. Are there any rabbits?"_

"_...no," Haru said, turning back to her homework. What time was it anyway? She looked at the clock, but it was only noon._

"_Come on, I need to blow off some steam," the wolf thing said, rolling back and forth on the bed. "Hey, this bed smells good. Any chance I can eat whoever sleeps here?"_

"_...no," Haru said again, mentally cursing herself for laying out of school today. She was exhausted from that mess the night before, it was no wonder she had fallen asleep—wait. "Oh, I get it," Haru said._

"_Hmm? Get what?" the wolf thing asked, sounding for all the world like a curious child._

"_This is just a dream!" Haru said triumphantly as she looked down at her homework. "I can throw this out the window and nothing bad will happen! Yahoo~!" she said as she opened the window, scooped up her textbook and homework papers, and tossed them out, laughing. "Ha ha ha!"_

"_...you know, sometimes I wonder about your sanity," the giant white wolf-like creature currently rolling around on her roommate's bed said._

"_Heh, I can just sit down and fall asleep at the desk too~!"_

"_Yeah...you do that. See you later, Haru," the wolf thing said._

"_You too, Haru~" Haru said to the wolf thing as it faded from sight. She crossed her arms on the desk and laid her head down. 'Ahh~ so comfortable,' she thought to herself as she drifted off._

* * *

><p>"That…was kind of scary," Kondo Kai said aloud as she walked alongside her bandmate Watanabe Miyako at lunch time.<p>

Miyako nodded. "I didn't know Iincho-san could _be_ so scary. I mean, everyone said she kicked that scary guy that hit Makie-sensei a while back, but...wow."

Kai sweatdropped. 'Girl, you don't know the half of it,' she thought. Miyako hadn't seen Sachiko beat the living hell out of that fox youkai back in Kyoto, either. "I know, right? I had a feeling she was going to throw something at the next person to say something, and she did!" Kai smirked. "Ha, good thing it was Ayumi. She's got a hard head."

"You shouldn't say things like that about her," Miyako said, smiling at the comment in spite of knowing she shouldn't.

They walked in silence for a while, just enjoying the day.

"So, are we going to do anything at the festival?" Miyako asked after a moment.

"Yeah. Ayumi's getting the paperwork to let us play on the big stage they're setting up. It'll be awesome, even bigger than the battle of the bands we went to a while back!"

"…big…stage…?" Miyako asked as her knees started to shake.

* * *

><p>Her other chores for the day finished, Maple walked along the sidewalk, carrying her shovel in one hand and the tied plastic grocery bag containing the cat's remains in the other. She absently flicked her head to the side to throw her bangs out of her eyes, but as they usually did when her hair was too long, they drifted right back where they had been. While the locals usually avoided her, today a few had the guts to greet her or attempt to make small talk. Unfortunately it was almost all of the 'Hey, Maple-san, where are you going with that shovel and that bag? Did something bad happen? I don't need to call the police, do I?' sort. She tried to reassure them, but as usual they seemed to take it with a grain of salt, so she decided to just ignore them as they appeared and continue on her way.<p>

* * *

><p>"Have you heard from Negi-sensei? Did they find her yet?" Taro asked Kagami, referring to her friend Possum as she caught up to the other girl beside one of the vending machines just after school had let out. At first she hadn't been very worried; Possum was tough and smart and could take care of herself. But as morning turned to full-on daytime and then started to fade into afternoon and the other girl still hadn't shown up, she had started to get worried.<p>

Kagami shook her head. "No sign of her so far. Her big sister Lucy doesn't remember anything that happened since she came to town."

Taro fell into a troubled silence at that. Surely the vampire hadn't…hadn't killed Possum, had he? Eva had said he wasn't the type to randomly kill people, but after that mess last night… She felt bile rise in her throat and did her best to keep from vomiting. If Possum was...was _dead_, then...

"Kagami-san! Hey, Kagami-san!"

Kagami turned to see who had just called out her name, and spotted one of her classmates jogging up from behind.

"Ume? What is it?" Kagami asked as the girl approached. Yoshida Ume was a member of the Cooking Club alongside Kagami, but it was weird for the girl to speak to her outside of club meetings. They weren't unfriendly with each other, just…different.

Ume trotted up and doubled over, putting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath from the run.

"Is something wrong?" Kagami asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Ume stood up straight and looked back and forth between Taro and Kagami. "The Cooking Club president wants to speak with you, something about you doing stir fry at the festival. Come on," Ume said, taking Kagami's hand. "We need to hurry, you know how the president is."

Kagami sighed. Indeed, she knew _just_ how the president was. The president was an irritating jerk, but she knew how to pull strings and get things done.

"Okay, fine. See you later, Taro-chan," Kagami said distractedly as she followed Ume away.

"Later, Kagami." Taro absently watched them go for a moment, her mind scrambling for a way to deal with the problem of her missing best friend. She set off in the opposite direction from that which Kagami and Ume had taken and continued on her way alone. After a moment, her thought processes found something else to latch on to in her pitiful attempt at distracting herself from Possum's disappearance. "The festival, huh?" she said aloud. No doubt the Fighting Club would want to hold a few exhibition fights too. They'd probably want her to take part. Taro sighed and stuffed her hands in her pockets as she walked along.

She walked for perhaps five minutes before she got to the point where the tingling sensation in the back of her neck that indicated someone was watching her finally made her snap.

Taro stopped walking, carefully pulled her fists from her pockets and straightened out her fingers, took a few deep, calming breaths, forced herself to smile, and turned to face the person that had been stalking her.

"Can I help you, Rally?" she asked, a nerve twitching at the edge of her eye and another at the corner of her mouth. She knew better than to yell at the freaky robot girl for following her around; she had been chewed out for it several times already.

Rally just looked at her shyly and clasped her hands together in a demure manner.

"Come on, spit it out," Taro ordered. Rally could be so painfully shy at times…it really annoyed her; but it _did_ distract her even further.

"But I have nothing in my oral cavity to expel," Rally said, confusion plain on her face.

"…" Taro didn't say. 'What. The. Hell.' Taro sighed yet again. 'So freaking _stupid_ too.' "That's not what I meant. What did you want to say?"

"Will you allow me to walk alongside you?" Rally asked quietly, looking at the ground.

Taro just looked at her for a moment. ...that was it? That was all she wanted? 'She didn't have to ask, she should've just _done_ it,' Taro thought. "Fine. Whatever. Come on, I'm going down to the festival grounds to look at the preparations."

"Is that so? Then allow me to join you as well," Negi said as he strolled up and stood before the two girls, both of whom quickly averted their eyes. Taro shot a surprised look at Rally, but was quickly distracted by Negi's smile before she could say anything.

"Is it okay if I join you?" Negi asked again, smiling pleasantly.

Taro nodded dumbly.

* * *

><p>Sophie Rivers had skipped school and gone out into the woods.<p>

The events of the night before had bothered her a lot; had she come to Mahora only to be exposed to this sort of thing…? Black, shadowy creatures running wild in the streets, attacking innocents? Whatever was going on had ended after about an hour, and so far she had seen little evidence of the night's events. No one she had run into had mentioned anything either, all of which indicated one thing: This town was _weird_. And not just normal weird, but _weird_ weird. The sort of weird where you say hello to Cthulu on your way to school in the morning and have afternoon classes with Nyarlathotep.

She shook her head to clear it and finished driving the short pole into the ground so it would stand firmly upright. She went back to her pack and took out a ball of twine.

"Weird town, I don't know why I even came here in the first place…" she grumbled as she unrolled the ball of twine around the series of poles, forming a rough circle.

"Bunch of weirdos."

She took one last look at her work and removed a tiny drum from her bag. It looked less like a drum than a miniature tambourine, but it would work just as well; she had used it many times before.

She removed a lighter, a scrap of paper, and a small pouch from her pocket and sat down beside a small specifically arranged pile of sticks. She lit the paper on fire and poked it into the middle of the pile, where the dryer lint she had collected earlier quickly caught fire.

"I don't understand these people, they're _all_ weirdos."

She let out an irritated puff of breath and opened the pouch. She dumped a small measure of some coarse mixed powder into her hand and sprinkled it over the fire, which burned a deep blue for a moment before returning to its natural color. She sat down and began to tap the small drum in a slow, steady beat, closing her eyes as she did so. She settled down into a trance the way the old man back home had taught her and set her body on autopilot while she took a look around to see what she could see.

The first feeling upon leaving her body was sheer elation at the utter freedom of no longer being tied down, free of the tyranny of a physical body. She soared upward, holding her wings out and riding the updrafts until she was circling lazily in the sky high above Mahora, looking down at the people and spirits wandering around so far below.

Ghosts were gathering around the front of the school for some reason…probably something to do with that really strong one that liked to hang around the classroom during school hours, or the one that wouldn't let go of the teacher. She moved on toward the world tree and circled the top a few times, looking at the usual abundance of nature spirits living in the tree. The tree itself had always interested her; it was obviously hugely powerful, but seemed to be dormant for some reason. She had never come across anything like it before.

She realized that weird light haired girl that liked to sit in the tree was looking at her again, so she moved on toward the lake…but something tugged at her consciousness, a sure sign that something was about to disturb her body back at the ritual site, so she fled back as quickly as she could.

* * *

><p>Maple walked into the clearing and paused. A strange girl had constructed a magic circle of some sort with a small campfire in the middle, and currently sat inside the circle with her back to Maple, beating lightly on a small drum.<p>

"Hello?" Maple asked. The girl remained still except for the movement of her arm. Maple cocked her head to the side. Some sort of trance…? She decided to wait and see what would happen.

* * *

><p>Sophie snapped back into her body and stopped beating the drum. It took her a moment to get her senses back in order; it always did when one went gallivanting around without their body to contain them, after all. Something was wrong though; some immense pressure was pounding down on her from a place perhaps twenty feet behind her. She opened her eyes and looked straight ahead, sighing sadly as her senses dulled down to a level her body could handle and the sheer euphoria of being truly free departed. It was always a little sad, even though she knew logically that she could do this sort of thing any time she wanted. The pulsing pressure changed frequency and she jerked back to reality.<p>

"Who's there?" Sophie demanded, suddenly terrified for some inexplicable reason. She knew it was crazy, but she couldn't help but feel as if the vulture that often interrupted her visions was standing behind her, just waiting for her to turn around. Not just _a _vulture, but _the_ vulture; the vulture of all vultures. She shuddered in disgust and more than a little terror.

"Just me," a tired sounding girl replied. "Who are you?"

Sophie forced herself to stand up and wiped the grass and dirt from her shorts, carefully avoiding the urge to turn around and look at the thing that seemed to be a girl.

"I'm just a student here," she said, and mentally congratulated herself for managing to keep her voice steady.

"Well I could tell that," the stranger said with tired good nature. "Why don't you turn around so we can see each other?"

Sophie stood still for a moment, working up the nerve to look and telling herself she was an idiot for hesitating. What was the worst that could happen? Her life was worthless; there was no point in worrying about it.

"So…" the stranger said, sounding confused.

'Oh fine, whatever,' Sophie thought, then turned around.

_It was an image of death. A great black vulture a dozen feet tall stood on the ground before her, feathers darker than the cloudiest night except for a ring of bloody red down around the place where a skeletal neck emerged naked from the great scavenger's body, rising up to support a head that was nothing more than a great bird's skull, glowing points of red light deep in the darkness of the cavities that should have held its eyes. It moved its wing a little and she could see a one eyed girl there, ragged and beaten bloody and yet seeming somehow triumphant, standing in the safety of the vulture's protection._

And then the vision was gone and the pressure faded and she saw a tired looking girl a few years older than herself, holding a shovel and a plastic bag.

"Hello," the girl said cautiously.

"…hello," Sophie said shakily, still pale and far too shaken up from what she had seen to even begin to consider how she must have looked to the other girl. The scar on her cheek, the one she had received on her wild run through this same forest the last time a vulture interrupted her ritual, was burning.

"My name's Maple. Maple Birdsong. And you are…?"

Sophie gulped. "Sophie Rivers. I'm a student here." 'Birdsong...!' she thought, horrified.

Maple nodded. "You said that before. What are you doing?" she asked, indicating the circle Sophie had set up. "Some kind of witchcraft? Or…?"

Sophie shook her head to clear it and set about putting the small fire out. It looked like, if nothing else, this Maple Birdsong was aware of magical things. "Well, I guess if it's anything, it's a shaman sort of thing," she said absently as she tried to order her thoughts.

"Oh."

Sophie broke the circle and wrapped up the twine, and only then did Maple come closer. Sophie nodded in approval; it was rude to break another person's circle, and it could be dangerous too.

"So…what's in the bag?" Sophie asked as she finished packing up her materials. Somehow, now that she could see the girl, her previous terror seemed a little absurd.

Maple looked down sadly at the bag she carried. "A cat. It got hit by a car. I need to bury it."

"Oh," Sophie said as she a sudden thought crossed her mind. "Do you do this often? Burying dead animals here, I mean," she said as she carefully filed away the details of the vision she had had for closer examination later.

Maple nodded. "I always use this place because it…it feels different," she said awkwardly as she moved further out into the small clearing before carefully selecting a spot. She placed the bag on the ground and with the shovel expertly removed a chunk of grassy topsoil, which she placed to the side.

"I see," Sophie said, watching closely. She had always liked this clearing because it felt so pure; she had had no idea that it was a graveyard for poor animals that were only loved by this girl. 'That would explain why my spiritual magic works so well here...' she thought as she watched.

Maple quickly dug the hole, putting the dirt in a neat pile beside it, then carefully removed the poor dead cat from the bag and placed it into the hole. She prayed over it for a moment, soft words Sophie couldn't quite make out, and then pulled the dirt over it, finishing by replacing the chunk of topsoil, which only poked up a little. If she hadn't seen the other girl dig the hole, she would have had no idea the cat was buried there at all.

* * *

><p>Seated on a bench outside of a small cafe, the Mahora Girls' School P.E. teacher Max Linell frowned more deeply than usual as he thought about what Asuna had told everyone the night before, back at Eva's resort after the fight against the vampire and his minions.<p>

'_I've had terrible dreams about things I've done in the past, things that happened in my childhood…things I saw done and things I did myself…'_ Asuna had paused at that point and looked around the small circle of her closest friends before working up the nerve to continue on. _'Horrible things that I _know_ I couldn't have possibly done. And yet, I remember doing them. Malvrin, he's the spirit sealed in this sword'_ she had explained, holding up the black sword she had carried for six years, _'he says the dreams are probably old memories that are being released by some steadily decaying seal, held together by the magic circle on my back.'_ Things had gotten crazy for a moment there while Negi threatened whoever it was that had manipulated Asuna that way while the others worked out suitably vague and terrible punishments to be heaped upon the villain's charred remains after Negi was through with him. Max had simply clamped his teeth together and crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair to think. No one who knew him could doubt his loyalty to his friends, though to anyone but a select few outside of that small group he simply would have looked bored.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Max shook the disturbing thoughts from his mind and glanced up at the newcomer. "Hello, Akira."

"Hello, Max-sensei," she said, grinning crookedly as she sat down next to him on the bench. Akira had always been an attractive girl, and now at twenty plus the time spent in Eva's resort, she had become a very attractive woman. With her looks, had she wished to do so, she could have had virtually any guy she wanted; she was far too down to earth for that sort of behavior however, and had opted instead to continue her studies in magic, mostly under the tutelage of Max, the only other elemental in Mahora who could train her. Not that either one of them minded.[';

They sat in companionable silence for a while, simply enjoying the relative peace and quiet of the small patch of grass and trees while they waited for the others to appear.

"It's kind of like the old days, isn't it?" Max asked, his deep voice rumbling. "Huh…I sound like an old man."

Akira smiled a bit. "You're not an old man," she said, grinning playfully at him. "And it really is sort of like the old days, with everyone coming back now. It's nice to see them all again." She leaned back to look up at the sky, displaying some of her rather pleasant assets.

"Yeah," Max said. Though everyone still persisted with those irritating rumors…

"Hey! Why, if it isn't Max-sensei and Akira-chan, sitting together on a bench in the shade! You aren't cheating on Jennifer, are you?"

Max grunted. Speak of the devil… "Hello, Yuuna."

"Hello Yuuna," Akira said, smiling at the energetic woman.

"Heya. So, when are we gonna get this meeting started?" Yuuna asked as she plopped down between the two and ruffled Max's unruly black hair, much to his chagrin.

"We'll start when the others arrive," Akira answered. "How is your father?" If anything, Yuuna's physical maturity had far surpassed Akira's own…though she still seemed to like her father too much.

"Eh…he's fine. He finally married Donnet last year, you know? They're pretty happy I guess."

Max paid little attention to the chatter between the two girls; instead, he was watching a suspicious young girl who appeared to be attempting to hide behind a trashcan across the road from where he sat. She seemed to be wearing clothes that were two or three hundred years out of date.

"Right, Max-sensei?"

"What?" Max asked, turning to look at Yuuna and Akira, who were looking at him expectantly. "What was the question?"

"Gasp!"

Max raised an eyebrow. Yuuna had actually _said_ 'gasp'.

"He is ignoring us! Here we are, two beautiful girls with nothing to do but sit next to Max-sensei, and he ignores us! Hey Akira, isn't that terrible? It's…"

He tuned Yuuna's voice out and tried to find the suspicious girl again, but she was gone now; there was nothing but a little silver tabby cat sitting next to the trashcan, staring across the street at them.

"Look! He's doing it again!"

"What's Max-sensei doing?" Makie asked as she walked up, having arrived fifteen minutes late.

"Makie! It's terrible! Max-sensei is ignoring beautiful girls like us! Is he…do you think…_batting for the other team_?" Yuuna asked, turning an overblown, teary-eyed stare at Max, who sighed wearily. Honestly…Yuuna never changed.

Makie seemed to ponder Yuuna's playful accusation for a moment.

"Nope!" she said, grinning wickedly.

Yuuna and Akira looked at each other in stunned silence. Then at Makie. Then at Max, who was looking across the street again, then back at Makie.

"You didn't…!" Yuuna said.

"There's no way…" Akira said, trailing off.

"Didn't what?" Makie said with an excessive display of innocence.

Max just shook his head in resignation. None of Negi's old class ever changed, apparently. Not in _that_ way, anyway.

"Is Ako coming?" Makie asked after a moment as she made herself comfortable on the now quite crowded bench next to Max. Back before everyone graduated, Ako had often hung out with them. In fact, the group had become quite close; Makie and Yuuna would run around and do stupid things, and Akira or Ako always had to bail them out. And wherever Akira went, she dragged Max-sensei. And of course wherever the big P.E. teacher went, his partner Jennifer, who herself seemed much younger than she actually was, wasn't far behind. The whole thing was ridiculous and looked incredibly suspicious to outsiders, but that was just how it had turned out. And this was to be their first meeting with the whole lot of them together in the same city since the younger members of the group's graduation…

Yuuna shook her head. "Nah, she's abandoned us for Misa's band. That's just so mean you know? I feel so alone," she said, putting a hand over her heart and pretending to cry.

"Yeah yeah, scarred for life, I get it," Makie said, waving her hand dismissively. "What about Jennifer-san?"

"What about me?" Jennifer asked as she finally arrived. She had just gotten through her first day of work at her new job at a jewelry store in the city. "Hmm?"

"Don't worry Max-sensei, I won't tell her about us," Yuuna said in a stage whisper.

"Ugh."

"What are you whining for?" Jennifer asked, playfully smacking the back of Max's head. "You're surrounded by beautiful women. Let's go!"

* * *

><p>For some reason he didn't quite understand, Max soon found himself in a small clothing shop, holding three purses (Yuuna didn't carry one) while he waited for the girls to finish whatever it was that took women so long to do inside a changing room. Glancing around the store, he caught a glimpse of a familiar face outside on the street through the big glass windows in the front of the store and almost immediately, the girl's eyes met his and she waved. He nodded in return, and couldn't help but sigh in mild annoyance when the girl headed for the door. He knew this particular student fairly well, and he wasn't looking forward to quelling whatever rumors she might start up if one of the others pulled something...<p>

"Heya Max-sensei. What's up?" Rosemary Dean, one of several American transfer students in Negi's current class, asked a moment later as she approached. "I didn't expect to see you in _this_ place," she said, referring to the clothing store, which was particularly well known for selling trendy clothing for women.

"Hello Dean. I'm just waiting for the others to finish up in there," he said in a curt tone, jerking his thumb back toward the changing rooms. The girl laughed and took a seat two chairs down from the teacher.

They sat in a fairly comfortable silence for a moment; while Rosemary wasn't particularly close to the teacher, each appreciated the presence of someone else from the same culture. Once in a while, it was nice to take a step back from the sheer insanity that was Japan and remember that, somewhere else in the world, all of this outlandishness was actually recognized as such.

"Is this your cat?" Rosemary asked a moment later as she reached down and picked up a silver tabby that had been hiding half under a chair, watching Max. He recognized it as the cat he had seen across the street earlier.

"No," he said as he reached out and rubbed its head, eliciting a loud purr almost instantly.

"Oh…she likes you. Do you get that reaction often?" Rosemary asked, grinning wickedly.

"Rosemary-san, you shouldn't tease your teachers," Makie explained in a teacherly tone; she had just exited the changing room in a trendy and somewhat revealing skirt and shirt combo.

"M-Makie-sensei, you and Max-sensei are on a…a _date_?" Rosemary asked as she lurched up out of her chair, her eyes comically wide. The cat she had been holding hissed and jumped down from her arms.

"Hmm? What's this?" Jennifer asked as she came out wearing a simple dress that clung to her hips and had a low cut neck. "How's it look, _Max-sensei~_?" she asked, walking with a very distracting sway and ending with a pose from a fashion magazine.

"Wha...wh-who is that?" Rosemary sputtered, then froze in place as someone very obviously female draped herself over her from behind.

"It's better if you don't ask~" Yuuna said breathily into Rosemary's ear. The effect was ruined when Akira came out and smacked Yuuna in the back of her head.

"Idiot."

Max was not amused.

* * *

><p>Rosemary Dena sat licking her ice cream cone on a bench in one of Mahora's many parks as she considered the information. "Okay, so you're Max-sensei's wife," she said, pointing at Jennifer, who mentally shrugged. It was close enough to the truth, so... "You're a co-worker and old student," she said, pointing at Makie. "And you two are just old students," she said, pointing at Akira and Yuuna, neither one of whom looked quite happy with the line 'just old students'.<p>

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay, fair enough. So who is that?" Rosemary asked, pointing at someone else.

Everyone turned to look.

The girl standing behind them was fairly short. She wore rather odd traditional Japanese clothing of the sort a servant of some noble family might have been expected to wear several hundred years ago, topped off with a large straw hat that seemed almost comically out of place in such a modern city. She looked back at everyone staring at her, backed up a step without meaning to, and began to look as if she might cry.

"Yeah, who _are_ you?" Yuuna asked as she pushed the brim of the girl's hat up with her finger to get a better look at her face, accidentally revealing the cat ears hidden underneath. She quickly pushed the hat down again so Rosemary wouldn't see. 'So _that's_ it, huh? A shapeshifting cat girl. A nice addition to the harem,' she thought, unable to hide her grin.

"I'm sorry!" the girl said, then dropped to the ground and started kowtowing toward Max. "I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

Jennifer elbowed him in the ribs. "So, care to explain who _this_ one is?" she asked in a terrifyingly pleasant tone.

Max sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, I've never seen her before." That wasn't altogether true, since he had seen her across the street a little over half an hour ago while waiting for the girls to show up.

"I'm really sorry for following you, but you have to help us! Me and my brother need you to hide us! Masashi-sama doesn't know we came here, so please!" the girl begged, still prostrating herself on the ground.

"…'Masashi-sama'?" Rosemary asked curiously.

Max sighed. 'Great. Another one to add to the fold…' "Okay, I'll help you. Just…just get up off the ground," he said awkwardly. He then turned and fixed a baleful glare on Rosemary. "Dean, not a word of this to _anyone_. Not unless you want to scrub every pool, bath, and toilet on campus every day after school until the day you graduate. _High school_. Understand?" His tone hardly changed from the bored sound it almost always had, and that sort of bothered her.

"Okay, fine," Rosemary said in a huff. "Never get to have any fun around here…" she muttered as she walked away.

"I feel kind of bad for her," Makie said as she watched the student leave. It was a shame they had to threaten her, but the threat of work was the only sure way to keep a girl like Rosemary quiet.

* * *

><p>"So, Ryoko-chan, why didn't you just go to Negi?" Jennifer asked. The group was now seated in a coffee shop Max sometimes used when meeting up with Negi or others he knew.<p>

Ryoko, the young girl in the weird clothing who had been following them, took a sip of tea awkwardly before she answered. "I don't know who Negi is. I was looking for Sachiko-sama."

"Negi's new class rep?" Yuuna asked. Nakamura Sachiko was the only Sachiko she could think of that might be related in any way to Negi. Ryoko shook her head.

"I don't know. But she is tall and pretty and really really strong. She beat up Masashi-sama once, so I know she can do it again," Ryoko said cheerfully.

"So how did you know to come to me?" Max asked after a moment. "I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"Well…I recognized you from Aoyama-sama's stories. She sometimes talked about Max-san, who was a huge foreigner with black hair and pale skin, like a zombie or something. She said you were dependable and strong, and I couldn't find Sachiko-sama anywhere and I saw you on that bench, so…" Ryoko said, trailing off as she looked down at the table.

"Like a…" Makie began, stunned.

"…a zombie," Yuuna finished. The two of them looked at each other, then burst into laughter while Max and Akira sighed and rolled their eyes in sync and Jennifer grinned.

"Motoko or Tsuruko?" Max asked when Makie and Yuuna had been quieted.

"You mustn't call them by their given names!" Ryoko said fearfully.

"Okay, but which one?" Max pressed. It was obvious that this Ryoko girl respected the Aoyama sisters immensely…what exactly had happened in Kyoto during the class trip?

"Um…Aoyama Motoko-sama. She was nice to me and Kichirou-nii. She let us work in the Konoe house as repentance. She locked up Masashi-sama too, but he broke out and stole something valuable from them. He called Kichirou-nii a traitor and killed a guard trying to escape. Kichirou-nii felt bad, so he followed him to find out where he would hide, but Masashi-sama hurt him too."

There was silence for a moment as everyone thought this over. So, whoever this 'Masashi-sama' was, he had somehow escaped from his cell in the Shinmeiryu headquarters, broken into their vaults and stolen some unknown but quite possibly very powerful artifact, and escaped alive? 'He must be a real monster,' went through all their heads almost at the same time.

...and Negi's class rep Nakamura Sachiko had beaten him?

"Is your brother here, in Mahora?" Jennifer asked.

Ryoko nodded.

"Show me," Max said.

* * *

><p>Kichirou winced and shaded his eyes as the garage door rolled up noisily, letting in a sudden glare of bright sunlight. "Ryoko…?" he asked weakly.<p>

"It's me, Kichirou-nii. I found someone that can help."

"Is it Sachiko-sama?" he asked, his voice hitching for a moment.

"Is this him?" Max asked as he stepped inside the run down storage building, his deep, rough voice booming in the small room.

Kichirou tried to scramble to his feet, but doubled over and fell painfully to the ground before he could do more than stand up straight. Max walked over and pushed him carefully to the ground, flat on his back and motioned Yuuna and Akira over.

"Hold his shoulders down," Max said.

"Who is it?" Kichirou asked as the two girls quickly moved to hold him down, looking at Ryoko with feverish eyes as he struggled feebly against them.

"Sit still. I need to look at your wounds," Max said.

"It's okay, Kichirou-nii. He said he would help," Ryoko said worriedly as she watched her brother's struggles.

"He's got a high fever," Jennifer said as she wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Mm," Max grunted in response as he pulled out a small hunting knife from a hidden sheath and began cutting Kichirou's shirt away from his wound, where it had become stuck with dried blood and pus. He carefully tugged the last shreds of cloth away from the wound, revealing the cat man's injury. Makie made a whimpering sound as she watched.

"How long ago did this happen?" Max asked, gently poking at the wound. It looked like a wound from some sort of blade, but it had become an ugly mess, red and inflamed with streaks forming around it. If they didn't get him some help soon…

"A few days, I guess," Kichirou said, his breath ragged.

Max nodded. "Akira, I need some water," he said as he gently probed the wound with the tip of his knife.

Ryoko watched, confused, as Akira took a dusty bucket from the corner and passed it to Max. She peeked over his shoulder and was even more surprised to see it was suddenly full of water. "What…?"

"I need space," Max said gruffly, startling the cat girl.

"I'm sorry," Ryoko said as she backed away. She could see the water was boiling now, even without any way of heating it. What had she gotten her and her brother into?

"Does anyone have a napkin or some cloth?" Max asked after a moment. Yuuna passed him a handkerchief, and he knelt back over Kichirou. After a moment he sat up straight and dropped the bloody cloth into the bucket of hot water and took up his knife again, an eight inch survival knife of the sort that one might use for anything from chopping wood to gutting a deer. "This will hurt," he said nonchalantly to Kichirou, whose eyes widened.

"H-hey, do you know what you're doing with that?" Kichirou asked nervously as his feverish eyes darted from the knife to Max's face and back to the knife again.

"Akira, Yuuna, hold his arms. Makie, Jennifer, hold his legs." He waited until they were in position, then looked the cat man in the eye with a deadly serious expression.

"What? What is it? Am I going to die?" Kichirou asked.

"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

Kichirou blinked once, twice. "Wha-AAAAAAARGGHH…!"

* * *

><p>"Ew, I think I'm going to be sick," Makie said as she joined Akira outside. "That was so gross!"<p>

Akira nodded. "It was infected, and he had to cut away some dead tissue. There was no other choice."

"I know, but…ew." They stood in companionable silence for a moment, listening to the sounds of the others moving around inside the storage building. "So where did Max-sensei learn to do something like that?" Makie asked, referring to the temporary patch-job he had performed on Kichirou. She had never seen him show any medical knowledge at all beyond rigging a splint or arm sling.

Akira shrugged. "He told me once that the missions he went on were often dangerous and there were times when no mage healer was available, so he taught himself. And it's not like magic can do much against infections anyway."

"Well, that's done," Max said wearily as he exited the building a moment later, followed by Jennifer and Yuuna. "He's out of danger, but we need to get a doctor here soon." Easier said than done, since few doctors would (or could) work on youkai. He knew the people at the school would probably help, though. In any case, someone needed to see to the injured youkai; he was in pretty bad condition and probably shouldn't be moved.

"So, now that the festivities are canceled, care to tell us about this 'big secret' of yours, Max?" Jennifer asked.

"Secret? What secret?" Yuuna asked excitedly. "Tell me, tell me!"

"Well, apparently Eva thinks it'd be a good idea to make our little arrangement official," Max said stiffly as he fished around in the pocket of his old leather jacket for something. He pulled out a small leather bag a moment later and dumped its contents into the palm of his hand. "This is the symbol of your membership in the Cerulean Guard," he said, holding his hand out. There were several small blue badges shaped like shields, and Makie picked one up carefully.

"'Cerulean Guard'?" she asked.

"Eva chose it, not me," Max said as the others each took a pin as well. "Named after Akira, I guess."

"What about Ako?" Akira asked when everyone had their pin. "She's one of us too."

"There's a pin for her too, but I think Eva has another plan for her."

"What, does Eva think she's a general?" Yuuna asked jokingly.

Akira smiled. slightly. "She might as well be." After a moment's thought, the others nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>"What's this?" Madoka asked, taking the pin offered by Misa. It seemed to be a skeletal hand, its fingers in roughly the position of the metal sign. Or the sign to ward off the evil eye, if one preferred.<p>

"Dead Man's Hand," Misa said, grinning. "Aces and Eights."

"So I guess you and me are the aces, right?" Madoka asked. "I've already got that title, thanks to you," she grumbled. She would never live down that stupid story about the Ace of Spades. Not with the way Misa liked to tell it to anyone who would listen…

Misa nodded. "Ako and Sakurako are the eights."

"Isn't that kind of rude?"

"Not really. I think the eight is supposed to be like the infinity sign or something. Seems kinda weird to me, but Eva insisted. She says the two of them are ridiculously strong, world breakers even, if they ever learn to properly control their abilities."

"…'world breakers'?" Madoka asked, raising her eyebrow. Misa said a lot of crazy things, but this was a new one.

Misa grinned. "Something Eva says to refer to people whose powers are strong enough to actually change the world. Kinda scary, isn't it? You wouldn't think it, to look at the two of them."

Madoka nodded and looked back down at the badge. "Dead Man's Hand, huh? Not half bad…"

* * *

><p>"Chizu-nee…?" Natsumi asked. The whirlwind of events in the past few months had left her timid, and she knew it. She hated it too, and was doing her best to recover. She had a restaurant to manage after all; she didn't think Ayaka would forgive her if she let the place get run into the ground.<p>

"It's okay, Natsumi-chan," Chizuru said, holding out her hand so everyone could see.

Kotarou and Ayaka looked at each other and each took a pin.

"It's…kind of cool. I guess," Kotarou said, looking at it.

"A black wing," Natsumi said curiously. It looked just like the old White Wing badges for Negi's group from years ago, but colored black instead.

"The Black Wing, the dark side of Negi's group…" Ayaka said, trailing off. She grinned after a moment. "I can live with that."

* * *

><p>"Well, since you three are still members of the group even though you spend most of your time in Kyoto…" Kazumi said, grinning as she held out her hand toward Konoka, Setsuna, and Asuna. "We worked out the designs with Chachamaru."<p>

"The Kyoto branch of White Wing, huh?" Asuna asked as she took the pin. It looked like the originals they had received years ago, except the wing was reversed to point the other way.

"Fine by me," she said after a moment. She looked at Setsuna and Konoka as they took their own pins and couldn't stop the grin that came to her face. These two…the three of them worked well together.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Journal,<em>

_Today I had a disturbing experience. _

_I had gone out to the woods to spirit walk like usual, but this time I was interrupted right away. When I came back, I saw what I believe now is the being known as the Vulture King, a shade of Death himself. Normally the closest I can see to Death is a little black smoke following someone around when they're in danger of dying, but this time was different. The vision was one of the clearest I ever had, even more than when Old Cezar died. It was terrifying to see the Vulture King, even though I didn't know who he was at the time. From my research, it seems that Death only sends a shade of himself to collect the truly wicked or truly great. But what bothers me is that, unlike every other time I have seen death following behind someone, this time the Vulture King was standing beside the victim with his wing wrapped around her, almost protectively. This was not the usual sort of vision I see in dreams, and is the first waking vision I have seen in months. I am afraid._

_What _is_ that girl? _

_All I know is that her name is Maple Birdsong, and she lives just outside of the campus. She seems nice, so I think I wouldn't mind becoming friends with her. Other than the vision I had, she seems more normal than most of the other people here. I can't help but feel nervous because of the vision, but we seemed to get along well in spite of it. I am curious._

_I usually can't talk to the ghosts that live here, but maybe that strong one in the classroom knows something about her? I will update tomorrow. _

_Good night._

_S. Dream Journal_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Omake<strong>_

Haru jerked as she snapped awake and looked around the room blankly. Huh...the window was open and it was getting dark outside. 'Must've been asleep for hours...' she thought as she got up and moved to shut the window just as Kagami opened the door.

"Hey Kagami," Haru said sleepily as she locked the window. "What've you got there?" she asked, glancing at the book Kagami was carrying.

"Oh, this is yours, I guess," Kagami said as she held out the textbook. "It's got your name in it. But you know, it's the weirdest thing...I found it in the bushes outside the dorm a few minutes ago...how'd it get there?" she asked.

Haru's mind went blank for a moment. No way. No freaking _way_. "Uh...Haru?"

"_Yes?" a voice in her head replied._

"Did you say something?" Kagami asked, looking up from where she had put her bag on her bed.

"_What is it?"_

Haru paused. "Uh...nothing, Kagami."

Kagami turned to continue what she had been doing and paused. "Hey...did you do something to my bed? The blankets are messed up."

"_Oh, so that's the one I wanted to eat, huh? She's pretty strong, I bet she'd be delicious! Not like that mousy girl last night at all."_

"Shut up!" Haru yelled.

Kagami just looked at her roommate for a moment, wide-eyed. "What's that all about?" she demanded.

"_Yeah, definitely looks delicious. Oh well..." _the other Haru said forlornly.

Haru tried to think fast, a difficult feat with her sleep-addled brain. "Er...I was...talking to...myself?" she tried hesitantly.

Kagami relaxed, but raised an eyebrow as she looked at her roommate. "You know Haru, sometimes I wonder about you."

Haru tried to scrounge up the good grace to look embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her head. "Heheh...yeah..." she said, trying to ignore the other Haru's wildly amused laughter in her head.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's notes<strong>: I swear I wrote the chalk throwing bit over a year and a half ago, I didn't steal it from the manga. But anyway... So yeah, I suck at naming groups. Anyway, about Dead Man's Hand…the name is thought to come from the poker hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was killed back in 1876. Supposedly, it contained the Ace of Clubs, the Ace of Spades, the Eight of Clubs, and the Eight of Spades, hence "Aces and Eights". People argue about the identity of the fifth card, and even about the validity of the whole Aces and Eights thing, but…yeah. I like the sound of it, and I already had the whole 'Ace of Spades' thing going with Madoka from before. Anyway, there's a short write-up on wikipedia about the Dead Man's Hand if you're curious._

_As for Kichirou and Ryoko... If you don't remember who they are, please see the Kyoto Field Trip way back in Chapters 8 through 12._

* * *

><p><span>Akashi Yuuna<span> - Laughing Dual Gunner

Born - 6/1/1988

Height - 5'5"

Likes: Guns, magic, explosions, excitement, her apprentice

Dislikes: Dull, day to day work, the fact that her apprentice is still missing

Little Known Facts: She was thrown out of several museums on her tour of Europe and America because she couldn't keep her hands off the exhibits.


	3. Ch 2 The Daughter

**Still Waters 3, Book 2: Chapter 2, The Daughter**

* * *

><p>Negi strolled along with Taro and Rally beside him on his way to the festival grounds. "I wonder how far along they have come on the festival preparations?" he asked after a moment.<p>

"I know they're gonna have a tournament this year," Taro said, feigning indifference in spite of her excitement at the idea. "I heard something about a band stage too. I wonder what else they'll do this year? Last year was kind of a flop with that bingo game as the last day event…"

Rally looked down at the ground. She sort of liked the idea of a bingo game…

"Six years ago we had a campus-wide battle," Negi said absently, not really paying attention to his two companions. "It was played up as a 'Mages vs Martians' battle to save the campus. It was quite fun."

"Oooh, a battle, huh?" Taro asked, eyes shining with excitement. "Sounds like fun!"

"You shouldn't set your heart on it, I don't believe they will be willing to try that again," Negi said absently. They had done it two more times after that first one, only once for real with that crazy mage who wanted to turn everyone into cats, and neither one had gone very well. Too much property destruction.

Taro glowered for a moment, but it didn't last long; she was too excited about the festival, even if she refused to admit it. "Should I enter the fighting tournament? I know the club'll want me to participate in the exhibition they're gonna put on…"

"The major tournament is once every twenty-two years, and the last one was six years ago, I'm afraid," Negi said regretfully.

"Every twenty-two years? Why?" Taro asked, taken aback by the unusual interval between tournaments.

"Oh, many reasons. Power fluctuations caused by the twenty two year cycle of the World Tree for the most part. There is nothing special this year, though," Negi said.

"Oh," Taro said.

They walked in silence for a moment before Negi finally noticed Taro's crestfallen look and paused. The two girls stopped walking as well. "Don't worry, I'm sure some strong people will be there," he said hurriedly.

"Negi-sensei," Rally said suddenly as she stepped in front of him. "W-would you please v-visit the Tea Ceremony Club's special ceremony during the festival?" she asked as she clasped her hands together in front of her shyly and looked down at the ground.

Taro looked away and waited in silence while Negi chatted with Rally. 'Why is he talking to her so much…isn't he more interested in fighting than some stupid tea party?' She refused to contemplate how jealous her thoughts seemed.

"Right, Taro-san?"

"Huh? What?" Taro asked, startled by Negi's question.

"I asked if you thought this year's festival would be enjoyable?" Negi repeated.

"Ah, yeah. Should be, I guess," Taro said, crossing her arms and sulking defiantly, drawing a confused look from Negi in the process as he wondered what he had done wrong.

"Taro-san…?"

"Hey! Negi-sensei!" someone called out.

Taro barely held back a disgusted 'hmph' as the teacher turned to see who had called out to him and smiled. She glared as the excitable guitarist of the No Name Band, Kobayashi Ayumi, did her best to bounce up to Negi. 'Tch. That's gotta be some kind of harassment,' she thought to herself as she put on one of her better death glares.

"Negi-sensei, we'll be up on stage, you have to come! You'll come watch us, right Negi-sensei?" Ayumi said, completely oblivious to Taro's glare as she grabbed the teacher's hands and brought them together dangerously close to her chest.

Taro gritted her teeth but kept her peace. 'Negi-sensei Negi-sensei Negi-sensei…! Shut up already, you brown nosed idiot,' she thought peevishly. The stupid, lying, vicious girl was just so _shallow_...! She really, _really_ wanted to punch Ayumi in the gut and see what color her breakfast was... She gritted her teeth and fought the urge for fresh, invigorating and above all _satisfying_ violence down, and forced herself to remain civil in the face of the other girl's onslaught of sexual harassment directed at Taro's favorite teacher.

"Of course Kobayashi-san. Do you know what time you will be playing?" Negi, the veteran of six years of attempted rape by female students, replied as he gently extracted his fingers, then came out with a winning smile that weakened Ayumi's knees, just as planned.

"Um…I'll let you know?" Ayumi answered cutely when she had recovered, holding her head at an angle as she continued ignoring Taro's death glare.

"Okay Kobayashi-san. But be sure to let me know as soon as possible so I don't accidentally double book myself, okay?" Negi replied, then smiled again stunningly in a way that sent the two girls and the robot into fits of blushing.

Ayumi, blushing ferociously with her eyes glittering, nodded and ran off, turning around now and again to wave at Negi as she went. Taro noticed the way Ayumi turned _just so_ in order to exaggerate her curves, and rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, I can't stand her."

"Taro-san, that's not the way you should behave toward your classmates," Negi lectured as he started walking again, prompting Taro and Rally to follow.

Taro bowed her head in embarrassment and tried to withstand the teacher's good intentions. She sort of wanted him to smile at her the way he had at Ayumi...

* * *

><p>"Hey, Negi-kun!" someone called out as the trio approached the tournament grounds. Two figures materialized out of the crowd and approached as the trio again came to a stop.<p>

"Konoka-san, Setsuna-san! What a nice surprise, I didn't expect to see the two of you here today," Negi said pleasantly, beaming at them much more honestly than he had at Ayumi, Taro noted with surprise, as they approached.

Taro looked up at the newcomers curiously; while both were several inches shorter than her, both of them exuded a sense of calm and mature femininity. It was a rare thing, and she found herself considering them to be women she should look up to before she recalled just where she had seen them before.

"You…!" Taro announced, pointing at Konoka. "I saw you hugging Negi-sensei in Kyoto!"

Konoka smiled brightly at her, and Taro wilted under the shine of that sun.

"…I'm sorry…" she muttered.

"Hmm?" Konoka asked, cocking her head adorably to the side. "Sorry for what?"

"Ah, please allow me to introduce you," Negi said helpfully. "Taro-san, this is Konoe Konoka, and this is Sakurazaki Setsuna, both of the Shinmeiryu; I'm sure you have heard Asuna-san speaking of them and perhaps you may have seen them in Eva-san's resort. Konoka-san, Setsuna-san, this is Urashima Taro, Asuna-san's student in the fighting arts."

"It's nice to meet you," Taro said as she bowed awkwardly, wondering briefly why Negi-sensei hadn't bothered to introduce Rally.

"Urashima…of the Hinata Urashimas?" Setsuna asked politely.

"Yes," Taro said, smiling a little at finding someone else who knew her family; her earlier annoyance at Ayumi had completely disappeared at the prospect of finding someone who knew of her relatives. "Do you know my grandma?"

"Only through reputation," Setsuna replied. "I met her once during a party at Kono-chan's home years ago. She was…ah…strong."

Taro grinned knowingly. "Yeah." The two of them stood in mutual silence for a moment, their eyes distant as they recalled various incidents where Granny Hina's strength had dealt them or those close to them humiliating blows.

Konoka began chatting about random things with Negi after a moment, so Taro turned all her attention toward Setsuna. "How about the others? Do you know any of them?" she asked.

"Well…Urashima Keitaro and his wife come to visit my sempai Motoko from time to time as well. He is...a worthy opponent," Setsuna said awkwardly, recalling several embarrassing incidents.

"You know Keitaro-nii? How about Kanako-nee, do you know her too? How are they? Is everyone okay? How about Naru? Did she finally calm down and stop hitting Keitaro?" Taro gushed happily. Finally...! Someone who understood Keitarou-nii...! Mentally, she cried in happiness for her poor, terribly misunderstood cousin.

"Ah…er…yes…" Setsuna said, unsure how to deal with this sudden personality change. "I don't know any of them personally, but they seem like good people, and it seems as if Keitarou will soon be a father," she offered, totally unprepared for the deafening squee Taro performed immediately upon hearing she would be sort-of an aunt, but more of a cousin.

* * *

><p>"Isn't it cute?" Konoka asked, not really expecting an answer as she watched her Secchan and the young member of the Urashima family interacting. Honestly, that helpless, confused look in her Secchan's face as Taro-chan questioned her was just so…<p>

"So, do you have any plans for the festival, Konoka-san?" Negi asked. The smiling woman looked at him, and he found himself smiling back.

"Me an' Secchan are supposed to do security, but we're just going to wander around and see what we can see when we're off," she said, then checked her watch. "Sorry Taro-chan. I have to take Secchan back now. Bye!" she said as she latched on to Setsuna and began to drag her away.

"But…but I wasn't finished!" Taro called out, but it was too late. "Well that's irritating," she said, putting her hands on her hips as she watched the two leave.

* * *

><p>The trio soon found themselves at the traditional site of the tournament grounds at the Tatsumiya shrine. Workers had already completed the four raised stages for the matches, and had started on a rather extensive set of bleachers for the spectators.<p>

"Wow…are you sure this is a small tournament?" Taro asked as she surveyed the scene. The fighting stages were very large, much larger than the padded areas in the gym at school or in the few dojos she had been in. Being made of wood, they would hurt a lot more as well if one were thrown down.

Negi was quite surprised himself. There had been a tournament every year of course, but none had ever had this level of preparation, not since the first one he had seen six years before.

"It's not the major tournament, but it looks like it will be big, maybe even as big as it was six years ago. I wonder what the prize will be?" he said distantly as he sized up the fighting area.

"Sounds like fun!" Taro said, a little fang showing itself as she grinned wide. "I can't wait to show-" She cut herself off there, but couldn't stop the thought that flashed through her mind. 'I can't wait to show Possum!' she would have said.

Taro, Rally, and Negi all watched the workers for a moment, each lost in his or her own thoughts.

"Hey, Negi-sensei…" Taro said after a moment as another worry, temporarily forgotten, blazed into life. She had tried to hide her worry for the other girl behind false bravado, but...she just couldn't help it. Possum was her best friend, and now...

Negi and Rally looked at her. "Yes?" Negi asked.

"Has anybody found Possum yet?"

Negi sighed wearily at the question and swept his hair back out of his eyes, his previous air of general well being all but gone. "I'm sorry, Taro-san…there has been no sign of her. Do you know where she might have gone, or who she might go to for help?" If anyone knew where his student Possum might hide, it would be Taro. However, the question had been asked several times before, and, as expected...

"No…"

...the answer was the same. "We've turned the vampire's hotel room inside out, but she wasn't there. Did she say anything to you?"

"Nothing," Taro replied sadly. It was a well known fact around campus that while Possum was friendly with just about everyone, her best friend was without a doubt Taro-kun. If she had had any sort of place to go for help, she would have told Taro.

"Maybe she is hiding from us," Rally said suddenly, her soft voice catching the attention of the two standing beside her.

"What do you mean?" Negi asked. Rally shrunk back a bit under their scrutiny before she spoke.

"Probability indicates that Jonus Hart most likely tried to turn her into a slave; but Friend-Possum-san is powerful. It is possible that she has overpowered the slave impulse. Records indicate that there are several examples of individuals overcoming the slave impulse and becoming full fledged vampires-"

"What?" Taro demanded.

"Rally-chan, we don't know-" Negi said, looking worriedly back at Taro as he tried very carefully to indicate to Rally that she had said too much and needed to shut up.

"That's impossible! Are you saying Possum turned into a vampire?" Taro shouted as she leaned forward and got in Rally's face. "She can't be a vampire! She's my _friend_! She's not a vampire!"

"Taro-san!" Negi said. They did _not _need to attract attention here, with so many others around.

"I…it is a possibility," Rally said shyly, backing away from Taro.

"She's not! She can't be!"

"_Taro-san_!" Negi said sharply, finally catching the girl's attention. "Please, keep your voice down."

Taro's eyes widened as she looked around and realized several people were staring. She blushed furiously and looked at the ground.

"Don't worry, Taro-san. We'll find her. She's one of my students after all," Negi said, smiling crookedly at her.

* * *

><p>Kara knew it was finally her chance. Ever since she had bought that pretty white dress, she had been itching to wear it. Unfortunately, her classmates were almost always around and she hadn't been able to do more than sneak the occasional look at the dress. But today…<p>

…today her roommate Possum was still off to whatever place she had gone, and Kara had the dorm room all to herself.

Kara locked the door and ran to the drawer that contained the treasured dress. Her heart raced as she opened the drawer and removed the clothes that covered it, and stood there for a moment, just looking at it as a sense of glee stole over her. It was so pretty…!

She took the dress out and held it up at arm's length, looking at it. Now, if she could just remember how to put it on correctly…

A moment later, she stood in front of the mirror, wide eyed as she stared at what seemed to be a stranger's reflection. A beautiful girl looked back at her from the mirror, and she was stunned. 'Surely this isn't me…?' Sure, the dress had creases from being folded and flattened in her drawer for a week and a half, but… She gave an experimental spin and the bottom flared out just above knee level; she could barely contain the sheer joy that coursed through her at the sight.

"Wow…" someone said.

Kara froze in place, letting the bottom of the dress settle again as the fact that someone else was now in the room worked its way through her head. She went pale and started to sweat.

"Oh, that's so pretty, Kara-san!"

"Isn't it?"

It wasn't just one person, it was _two_. Kara regained control of herself enough to at least look at the two people she would undoubtedly have to kill…and she started to sweat even more.

It was two of her bandmates, Kondo Kai and Watanabe Miyako. Kai was dressed as she always was, with shorts that showed off her legs and a t-shirt that showed off the shape of her chest; Miyako was wearing a simple flower print dress and strappy shoes. Both were smiling wide at her, though Kai's smile was more of a teasing one.

"…just…shut the door, please…" Kara managed.

"Gotcha," Kai said as she shut and locked the door.

"That's so pretty, where did you get it?" Miyako asked wonderingly as she circled Kara and poked her here and there to help settle the dress into place properly.

Kara shrank in on herself a little. "…a store called Agatha's."

Kai and Miyako looked at each other. "That's Ayumi's favorite store," Kai said after a moment. "She didn't see you there, did she?"

Kara paled further as she contemplated that. If Ayumi had seen her buying the dress, she would never let her live it down…

Kai and Miyako looked at each other worriedly with a different thought going through their minds. If Ayumi saw Kara in this pretty, simple dress that looked as if it had been made for her, it would make her insanely jealous, especially since Ayumi preferred the more complicated and noticeably shorter sort of dress and was always complaining about how they never fit right. And a jealous Ayumi was a dangerous thing… But the look on Ayumi's face would almost be worth it...!

Kara fidgeted while Miyako circled her several times, asking questions and giving advice on what to do should she decide to go out in public with it.

Kai, meanwhile, just sat comfortably on the bed, spinning the homemade lockpick with which she had unlocked the door and thinking of how to best keep Ayumi from finding out.

* * *

><p>Ayumi quietly slipped the door shut and backed away from the room, her frown dominating her face. Her earlier glee at having Negi-sensei smile at her so beautifully was long gone. 'Stupid Kara...' she thought; she had rushed over here to tell Kara about her latest interaction with the teacher when she had come around the corner to see Kai working on the lock on Kara's door, with Miyako standing at her side looking nervous. Ayumi, curious, had ducked back around the corner to hide, and then crept up and listened at the door for a moment when the others were safely inside and wouldn't notice her. When she heard someone mention her favorite store, her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had picked the lock and opened the door a crack to get a peek inside. But now...<p>

So, Kara thought she could go and take over Ayumi's favorite store, did she? She took a deep breath to calm herself and set off down the hallway as she tried to straighten out her lockpick, which she had accidentally bent in her fist after seeing what she had seen.

Well…Kara could shop where she wanted, Ayumi supposed; she just wished the girl would shop somewhere else. 'She doesn't have good taste in dresses either,' Ayumi thought spitefully as she recalled certain curves. 'That one doesn't show enough leg.'

She stalked down the hallway and went downstairs.

* * *

><p>A young man in a plain T-shirt and jeans stepped into a public bathroom to get away from the growing crowd. He wasn't used to such huge throngs of people. Where he came from, a thousand people getting together at the same time meant an army was forming or a new king was being crowned; this was so far out of the scope of his experience that he didn't even know where to begin; he couldn't comprehend it. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a cell phone from his pocket. He opened it and fumbled around for a moment before dialing the number he had been told to use in emergencies. He raised the phone to his ear, feeling like a fool at the unaccustomed gesture, and waited for the other person to pick up.<p>

'Hello?'

"U-um…I'm having trouble locating the Daughter, sir. The local population, it's…it's huge, sir. I can't even find the other members of my team."

The man on the other end sighed. 'What is your name and rank?'

"Rale, sir. I'm an initiate," he said as he inspected the unusual toilet. They sure didn't make them like that back where he came from…

'Initiate Rale. Yes," the man said, accompanied by the sound of papers being flipped. "Rale, have you been able to locate the school?'

"Yes sir. However, there are thousands of students, and they all wear the same uniforms. I'm afraid I haven't been able to tell one from the next; they seem a lot alike in most respects," Rale explained, trying and failing to sound sophisticated. He reached up and tugged at his shirt collar a little. He wasn't used to this extreme heat or this world; he was just a simple country boy from the north! How was he expected to do what had been asked of him in this terrifying place? 'I should have stayed on the farm back home…' he thought to himself, not for the first time.

'That is…unplanned for. Do they not remain in the school at all times?" the man on the phone asked.

"No sir. They freely mix with the locals during the latter part of the day and evening. It…it is most different from that to which I am accustomed. Their clothing, it allows free view of…of their legs," Rale said, blushing heavily. This place was _far_ too different from home or the temple. But…it was the first time he had seen so many members of the fairer sex expose so much of themselves willfully; he was torn between staring in shock and staring in fascination. And the locals…! Why, he had seen women showing _the tops of their bosoms!_ Oh, his mouth had dropped open when he saw _that_ for the first time. Back home, everyone covered up all the time; it was too cold not to, most of the year. He had once seen a traveling bounty hunter swimming in the creek behind the farm a few years back, but had run away when she spotted him and called for him to come closer. But she had been swimming in deep water, and he had seen little but the skin colored blur of her body beneath the water. It had been nothing like this…!

'Initiate Rale, concentrate please,' the man on the phone said, sounding somewhat amused.

"Ah…sorry sir. I have been unable to locate the Daughter, and have been unable to contact the other initiates or adepts. I…I don't know how to contact them with the 'cell phone' devices. I'm sorry, sir."

The other man barely suppressed a groan. 'Proceed to the meeting place at the sacred tree. That is the location of your arranged meeting, correct?'

"Yes sir."

'Very well. Do this, and wait for them to arrive. You will have to wait several hours, I am afraid. Consider this your punishment for becoming lost.'

Rale bowed his head instinctively, even though the other man wasn't there to see him. "Yes sir. Goodbye sir."

'Goodbye, initiate Rale.'

Rale awkwardly closed the cell phone and put it into the pocket of his pants. This clothing reminded him of what he used to wear on the farm; rugged, comfortable, only…different. More refined. It made him afraid that he might rip it or ruin it somehow, as if he had been given an expensive vase to take care of. But in any case, he must make his way to the sacred tree or risk further punishment.

With such thoughts going through his mind, he opened the door of the public toilet and stepped outside, plunging back into the noisy crowd. He could see the top of the sacred tree even beyond the buildings here, so he followed the crowd as it moved in the direction he needed. It was very awkward; he was unused to such pushing and shoving and the noise hurt his ears, not to mention the stench of the city itself compared to the clean air of his home or the temple. After a moment, the buildings blocked his view of the tree so he pushed out of the crowd into a narrow side street that was mostly deserted.

He followed this narrow street for a short way until he came out on another wide street, which he stepped into. The crowd was much looser here, and he could see the tree again. Thank the Daughter…! He followed the road as it curved around and led directly to the large plaza around the sacred tree. He found an empty spot on a bench and sat down awkwardly, trying not to look at any of the passersby. There were so many people…

He remained in the plaza as the hours passed, sometimes getting up to walk the numbness out of his legs or inspect some technological wonder or gaze stupidly at an attractive girl until she looked at him, at which point he would look away awkwardly. After a while, he settled down on a better designed bench with a comfortably curved backrest. He leaned back and looked up at the branches of the sacred tree high above, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Rale awoke to the sensation of someone shaking him. "Mmwha…?" he asked, wincing at his stiff neck. "Ow."<p>

"You shouldn't sleep like that, you'll hurt your neck that way," a girl said softly as she sat down demurely next to him.

Rale jerked fully awake and looked away, ashamed of himself and unsure what to say.

"I won't bite," the girl said, amusement coming through in her tone.

He turned to look at her again, and nearly ran away when he caught her eyes. "I-I-I-I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

He tore his gaze away from her eyes and looked down at the ground in front of him. He realized his gaze had drifted to her legs, and he turned away quickly as his face went red. Really, she was very pretty…but to be wearing such a short skirt…! Why, a good third of each thigh was exposed!

"Are you new in town?"

"Y-yes."

"You have a place to stay, right? Are you lost?"

He nodded frantically. What did this girl want? She was driving him crazy! And she had a nice, clean, slightly flowery scent that really, _really_, bothered him. In a good way. Oh, _God_ how it bothered him…!

"Are you waiting for someone?"

"Yes," he said, finally managing to meet her gaze for a few seconds before he looked away. She was so cute and pale and _pretty_! Like Bonnie, from back when he had lived on the farm, only…different. Exotic. He shivered.

Time passed; in the beginning, she did most of the talking. Simple things about life in Mahora and questions about himself. Rale was slowly drawn in and soon began to ask questions of his own. He found out she was a musician, and that she wasn't really a local; her family lived far away in some place called Osaka, and she only stayed here for school and the band she played in with her friends, who she was currently waiting for. He learned their names; Misa, Madoka, Sakurako, and he learned the names of several of their songs, which she also hummed for him. He was in love; never in his sixteen years had he met a girl like Izumi Ako. And she was so _nice_! In the end, he poured out his life story to her, carefully omitting any references to the other world or the temple.

Eventually, he spotted the other initiates and the two adepts that he had come with, and politely excused himself. The girl, (Ako-chan, he thought with a curious floaty feeling of glee), waved and smiled prettily at him as he stood up, and he found himself turning around and smiling back at her now and then as he made his way across the plaza to rejoin the others.

* * *

><p>"She was really nice," Rale thought aloud as he walked dreamily over to where his fellow members of the temple had gathered. He made his way into the alley and smiled goofily at them, not even noticing their shocked expressions.<p>

"Hello everyone! I've been waiting for you~"

"Initiate Rale!" Adept Cort barked, startling him back to reality. "What are you doing?"

Rale stumbled as his mind came crashing back to earth. What in the name of the Daughter was Adept Cort talking about? "I was befriending one of the locals. I know it is frowned upon, but I felt that under the circumstances-"

The other adept stepped forward and smiled in amusement. "No, Initiate Rale, you were not 'befriending one of the locals'," Adept Amos said almost fondly as he removed a picture from his pocket and showed it to Rale. The other initiates huddled together a fair distance away, looking at Rale with a mixture of awe and fear.

As for Rale, when he saw the picture his eyes widened and his face went pale. "Oh no…oh no…I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Cort glowered. "No, you aren't going to die. Not for this, even though you have jeopardized our entire mission. You may have a chance to redeem yourself. However, keep in mind that such familiarity is not allowed. If you manage to lead her to us, I will forget about this mistake of yours. Do you understand?"

Rale nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. He should've known…instead he hadn't had any idea! The fact that the Daughter could be such a pretty girl had never crossed his mind. He had expected…well, he didn't know _what_ he had expected. An old hag, maybe? A matronly woman in her middle years? Izumi Ako, the friendly girl that was so pretty…he had a sudden bad feeling that this wouldn't end well. If they were to awaken the Daughter as prophesied, the soul inhabiting her vessel would…what? Be destroyed? Just…go away? He shuddered at the horrid thought. But…there was no question about what he must do. If the Children's Prophecies were correct, the Daughter would have to be awakened, or the world would end. But…

He realized the other initiates now kept far away from him as the little group walked. He looked around at the adepts and they, too, had created quite a bit of distance between themselves and him. But if he really did lure her to them, then he would get to spend more time with her, right? If so, then he was willing to do it. Probably. Maybe. Except for the whole soul-destruction thing.

'What am I going to do?'

* * *

><p>"Hu hu hu~" Misa chuckled as she sat down beside Ako.<p>

"Hm hm hm~" Sakurako laughed evilly as she sat down on the other side of the bassist.

"He was kind of cute, I guess," Madoka said as she stood behind the bench, watching the boy disappear around a corner with a fair sized group of others. The three of them had been spying on Ako for at least half an hour while she sat talking with the boy.

Ako blushed, but managed to fix Misa with a glare anyway. "He just looked lonely, so I thought I would say hello."

Misa grinned wide. "Oh? Does our little Ako-chan have a crush~?"

"No!"

"I think so~" Sakurako provided from the other side. "He looked really young though, like he wasn't even through high school yet. Do you like that type Ako-chin~?" she asked teasingly. Madoka grinned but kept her silence.

"Don't call me that," Ako protested feebly as her blush deepened.

* * *

><p>Kagami caught up to Taro in the dorm lobby that night by the stairs as the dorm curfew approached.<p>

"Hey, Taro-chan. Are you coming with us for training tomorrow? Asuna-sempai will be there."

Taro's frown deepened and she looked away. "I don't know, I'm not in the mood."

"Hey, wait a minute, you can't just brush it off! What would Eva say?"

Taro grumbled something under her breath.

"What?"

"Just go away," Taro said as she started up the stairs.

Kagami raised an eyebrow at that. So, Taro-chan was being uncooperative, hmm? Smiling like a cat, she looked slyly at the other girl. "Negi-sensei will be there."

Taro stumbled on the next step and almost fell.

"Kotarou-san, too," Kagami said as she moved to step around Taro and stand in her way on the stairs. Taro went red and turned to look at the wall. "Come on, admit it. You're a girl, too; even you think they're cute, right? Both of them," Kagami teased, leaning over to the side to look Taro in the face. Taro stiffened and whipped her head around to look at the wall on the other side.

"…yeah."

"What? I couldn't hear you~?"

"I said yeah, okay? Yeah, I think Negi-sensei is really freakin' hot, and so is Kotarou-san! And…and he smells really good too! There! Are you happy now?" Now that her unplanned rant was over, Taro froze when she heard a few snickers and suddenly realized she felt at least a dozen pairs of eyes trained on her. With a dawning sense of horror, she forced herself to look down the stairs and into the suddenly quite crowded lobby of the girl's dorm.

"Hehe~ I bet Negi-sensei has no idea~" someone said.

"Don't worry Taro-san! I'm sure with a little makeup and some nice clothes, you'll be able to get either one of them in no time!" another girl said. This comment brought a burst of giggling with it as several girls she didn't know smirked at her.

Taro rounded on them and gave her best deathglare, but the effect was completely ruined by her flushed face. "Shut up! I hate you guys, you're all the same!" she bellowed, knowing how ridiculous it sounded even as she said the words. She felt tears threatening to form, shoved Kagami aside, and fled up the stairs.

Kagami watched as Taro disappeared upstairs. "I…think we overdid it." Several girls nodded.

* * *

><p>"Who-whoso d...dwelleth under the de...defense of...of the Most H-high-"<p>

Possum's words were cut off abruptly as another spasm racked her body and she fell to the dirty concrete floor again, clutching her sides as waves of agony threatened to rip her apart from the inside out. She lay there in a fetal position for several minutes until the shaking and spasms died down. She somehow managed to gather the strength to sit up, and leaned heavily against the wall behind her. Her gaze drifted wearily through the chamber, chasing floating spots and things that weren't there, until it finally settled on the small pile of corpses in the far corner, and she shuddered. Granted, it was only a bunch of rats and a cat, but _she_ was the one responsible for it. Her stomach churned again and she clamped her eyes shut until the nausea passed, clutching the replacement conjure bag she had started after escaping the vampire Jonus Hart's room. Her mind strayed back to those hectic minutes that had seemed to stretch for hours, even days...the struggle to get loose from the ropes, her search for her things, finding the ruined, powerless conjure bag she had used for so long…escaping.

The rising urge to kill and drink the blood of the same people she passed or talked to on the street every day.

She realized her mind was wandering again and tried to concentrate on the charms her great grandmother had taught her. The charms against the body's urges, the charms against evil, the charms against corruption. She could barely even recite the 91st psalm anymore...she shuddered. They had all taken her so long to learn, even though her older sister had picked them up almost immediately. Lucy was always good at learning new things quickly, and though she loved her older sister dearly, it had rarely failed to make Possum feel like an utter failure when she had trouble learning even the simplest of tricks. She still remembered her great grandmother's words, though.

'_I don't care a whit how fast li'l Lucy picks it up, you're the stronger one. You got the faith. Jus' keep at it, you'll get it some time, an' then you'll have nothin' to fear.'_

"…then you'll have nuthin t'fear," she said aloud in English, not even noticing as she fell back into the American southern accent she had worked for so long to hide. When the Burial Agency found out about Great Grandma, she and Lucy had had to run away to keep from being caught. Apparently, hoodoo was frowned upon in the world of 'proper' magic, even when it was only performed by two young girls and an old woman. They had fled to her grandmother's house at that point, and after awhile Grandma had sent her on to Mahora…

Possum grimaced as her stomach turned over again. She vomited explosively without warning, jerking back as she sprayed herself with the back splash from the wall. She realized she was crying and turned away from the mixture of blood and thick, syrupy bile that coated the wall and floor and her clothes. The stench was overwhelming, even here in this fairly clean section of drainage pipes under Mahora, and she had a hard time trying to avoid another round.

The last rat had been hours ago, and she felt thirsty.

She shook her head to clear it and half crawled, wincing at the sensation that her brain was bouncing around inside her skull, and half dragged herself to a corner away from the vomit and lay there, curled up and sobbing as she tried to recite the 91st psalm again. "Whoso dwelleth..." She was instantly wracked with pains and cried out.

If she was turning into a v-…something else, she would rather die. "I'll never be one of them!" she shouted weakly, wincing at the pain caused by her effort as her voice echoed eerily down the tunnels and came back mockingly.

'One of them'

She shook her head, closing her eyes to fight her dizziness, and resumed chanting.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's notes<strong>: And a round of blushing for everyone! Except for Possum._

* * *

><p><span>Initiate Rale<span> - Naïve Hick Cultist

Born - 3/10/1992

Height - 5'10"

Likes: Good food, pretty girls

Dislikes: Hard decisions, big crowds.

Little Known Facts: Despite what some people say, his guilelessness isn't an act.

* * *

><p><span>Shiina Sakurako<span> - Lucky Playful Trickster

Born - 6/9/1988

Height - 5'5"

Likes: Cats, money, shrines, drums, playing tricks on people, lazing around

Dislikes: Being busy

Little Known Facts: She often lies around all day, sleeping in random places and positions on the floor.

* * *

><p><span>Izumi Ako<span> - Scarred Pale Bassist

Born - 11/28/1988

Height - 5'

Likes: Gentle music, the sound of playing the open E string on a bass guitar

Dislikes: Being ignored

Little Known Facts: She has a pet name for every guitar she owns


	4. Ch 3 Festival Preparations 1

**Still Waters 3, Book 2: Chapter 3, Festival Preparations Part 1**

* * *

><p><em>Monday, June 22nd, 2009, Evening<em>

* * *

><p>Four days before the festival, Negi relaxed on his couch and looked over his schedule for the festivities. As always, it would be a very busy three days; what with the requests by his students, teacher responsibilities, and daytime patrols among other things. Something else was bothering him though...one of his students, Endo Haru, seemed to be getting sick. Over the last few days, her complexion had switched constantly between flushed and pale, and she couldn't seem to sit still. It was quite troubling, and just today he had been forced to send her to stand in the hall due to disrupting the class via hyperactive behavior such as suddenly shouting in the middle of class. She had been to see the school nurse as well, but the nurse couldn't find anything wrong...it was most troubling.<p>

Asuna came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a bath towel and drying her hair. "Busy as usual, huh?" she asked as she draped the smaller towel over her head and bent over to get a drink from the fridge.

Negi glanced at her and quickly looked away. 'Asuna-san really shouldn't bend down with a towel that short…' He couldn't see anything from where he was, but if she bent forward just a little bit further... He tore his eyes away and began studying a spot on the ceiling instead. "Yes. The first two days will be chaotic…"

"You're used to that sort of thing, right?" Asuna asked as she took the towel off her head and put it on the counter. She took a good long drink of whatever soft drink she had found, and Negi found himself staring again. Asuna took a deep breath and then continued. "What's the last day event?"

"They are debating between a paintball battle and a water balloon battle. Unfortunately, everyone wants a massive battle of some sort every year now," Negi said, looking everywhere but at a certain unsuspecting redhead.

"Ha! Well, I guess you can't blame them. It _was_ a lot of fun, and I hear that bingo game last year really flopped," Asuna said, heading toward the bedroom.

Negi sighed in relief when Asuna closed the door, and Kamo snickered at his discomfort. Negi flopped back on the couch and threw an arm over his eyes.

"Aniki, you might as well do something about it, your feelings on the matter are obvious," Kamo said from his place on a cushion beside the couch, where he had been looking at a magazine.

"Not now, Kamo-kun. I don't want to hear it from you too," Negi said tiredly.

"Hear what?" Asuna asked.

"Kamo says I like you, that's…all…" Negi trailed off and moved his arm so he could see the person he knew was standing there.

Asuna was standing by the couch, leaning over him with her long red hair hanging free now, eyes wide in surprise and face flushed as she absently held the towel she had come back to get. Negi's eyes drifted from her face down her neck to her chest of their own volition and stopped at the point where the towel abruptly cut off the view.

Kamo snickered. "'The Cup Runneth Over', or so they say."

"Eh…"

"Ah…"

"Ah…ah…ahahaha?" Asuna laughed frantically as she straightened up and pulled her towel up to hide as much as she could. "Ahaha! That's ridiculous isn't it? Ahaha!"

Negi frantically averted his eyes again from the bottom of the towel which, while still hiding a certain vital area, was now far, far, _far_ too high for his liking. Another half inch…he found himself torn between curiosity and dread as he clapped a hand over his eyes and shot up to a stiff, seated position. "Y-yes! Hahaha! Haha!"

"Ahaha!"

"Haha!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"A-a-a-a-asuna-san, your towel-"

"Yes! I'll…I'll go into the bedroom now! Yes. The bedroom. The room with the bed. Not that I'm going to be laying on it or anything!" she said while waving her arms frantically. Negi nearly fainted at the...bouncy...effect this had on a certain area of her anatomy as her towel started to come loose. "It's just a name! It doesn't mean anything!" Asuna said as she ran for the safety of the other room and slammed the door behind her, coming frighteningly close to losing her towel in the process.

Negi let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding and collapsed on the couch. "I..I don't think I'll make it, Kamo-kun…"

Kamo snickered. "You should be happy, aniki. You're living with ane-san…your father would be so proud!"

Negi let out an exhausted, semi-hysterical little giggle and pulled a throw pillow over his face in a pitiful attempt to end it all. Unfortunately, the pillow was something Asuna had brought into his place, and it smelled just like her. He dropped it and settled for burying his face in the couch cushion instead. "…kill me now…" he said, his voice muffled.

* * *

><p>With the festival only days away, the next day Negi allowed the class to work on their projects for the art gallery; or at least, those who were present. Fully one third of the class was absent today so they could work on their club projects. Most of the students had opted to take the easy, traditional route and went with sketches or paintings, but some students had decided to make art through…other methods.<p>

"Youko-san…I don't believe you are allowed to have a knife on the school grounds," Negi said, concerned.

"Well do you want me to participate in this or not?" she replied, eyeing him speculatively. "It's only a hobby knife anyway. And how else am I supposed to do ukiyo-e, huh?"

Negi rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something to say. He settled for a hesitant "Be careful, and please clean up after you're done," before moving on. He glanced back at Inoue Ai's empty desk, worry plain on his face. Inoue-san, like Possum-san, had gone missing. But Haruna claimed to know where Inoue had gone and had promised to bring her back*, so hopefully things were okay. It bothered him that he couldn't be the one to bring her back, but Haruna had insisted, and he knew he should have some faith in his friends…

He took a long look at Sasaki Rina's sketch and rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he tried to figure out what it was. "That is a wonderful picture of a demon, Sasaki-san," he said after a moment, smiling.

Rina took one look at him and tears welled up. "I…I…I hate you, sensei!" she wailed as she fled the room.

"Ah…I'll get her back," he heard student number twenty five Mori Kumiko grumble as she got up from her seat and chased after the other girl.

"Thank you," Negi said as Kumiko exited the room. He cleared his throat and moved on, pausing at Eva's desk in the back. "Do you have anything prepared, Eva-san?"

Eva, with her head propped up lazily on one hand, looked up at him with half-slitted eyes as her lips formed an amused grin. "Something wrong, 'sensei'?" She looked to be in a genuinely good mood, and it surprised him. 'She has come so far since I first met her,' he thought with a delighted gleam in his eye.

"No, Eva-san. I am just concerned about your entry for the art gallery."

Eva sat up and glanced out the window on the far side of the room. "It's at home."

"I see," Negi said, wondering what she could be planning on bringing; the possibilities were endless. And disturbing. And more than a little frightening. He turned to the student across the aisle, Kondo Kai.

"How about you, Kai-san?"

"Ah…well…" Kai said, hesitantly revealing her notebook, which she had quickly hidden with her arms when Negi came down the aisle.

"Eh? What is it?" Negi asked as he looked at the rough sketch and measurements she had scribbled on the page. It appeared to be some sort of big snake, or maybe an oriental-style dragon? It was hard to tell from the picture...it appeared that Kai-san shared the same sort of drawing ability as Rina.

Kai grinned helplessly and sweated a bit. "It's…ah…it's just plans for a wood statue of a dragon I started a while back," she said. Her face went red and she turned her head as Negi picked up the notebook and gave it a closer look. According to the measurements, when finished the dragon statue would be roughly twelve inches high and eight across at the base.

"Hmm…this is very ambitious, Kai-san. Will you have time to finish it before the festival?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kai said as she took the notebook back. "It's almost done, so I should have plenty of time."

"I like where this is going. Keep up the good work, Kai-san," Negi said, smiling gently at her, completely unaware of the fierceness of her blush. He circled around behind the row and came up the next aisle.

"Nice painting, Mako-san," he said. "I love that yukata." He continued on up the row and stopped at Endo Haru's desk; the girl who had caused so many problems recently was currently slumped over the tabletop, asleep. He shook her shoulder gently. "Endo-san? Endo-san!"

Haru opened her eyes blearily and looked around. "Wha…? Oh, hello, Negi-sensei."

"What about your art project, Endo-san?"

"Oh, that's something I can do at the dorm," Haru said, then laid her head back down.

"Oh…" Negi continued up the aisle and around Possum's empty seat and paused upon seeing Hayashi Fujiko's sketchbook.

"Oh! Nicely done, Hayashi-san!" Negi said.

"Thank you, sensei," Fujiko replied, looking down so she wouldn't have to see his face. Normally she was fine around men, but she found it hard to think or speak straight when she looked at her teacher...

"Superheroes, aren't they?" Negi asked as he picked up the sketchbook and began flipping pages.

"…yes…" Fujiko said, wishing he would stop looking at her pictures. How could he just look at her sketchbook like that? It was just like reading someone's diary…!

"Which comic are they from? Or are they from manga?" Negi asked, completely clueless as to Fujiko's discomfort.

"…they're original," she said after a long, long moment spent squirming under the imagined scrutiny of the rest of the class.

"Oh! I like the clothing and design, Hayashi-san. Are you planning on becoming a mangaka?"

"Oh God no!" Hayashi said in horror, drawing the attention of the class for real this time with her outburst. "Ah, um, I mean, no, sensei. Sorry."

"It's fine, Hayashi-san," Negi said, sweating as he passed the sketchbook back to its owner. He finished his rounds and made his way back to his desk. After a moment, Mori Kumiko returned with Sasaki Rina in tow, and dragged her back to her seat. Negi thanked Kumiko for bringing the other girl back and, just for old time's sake, pulled out his stack of pactio cards and flipped through them, pausing here and there as he recalled the incidents that had led to the creation of each one. He had well over sixty of them now, and still remembered the incident behind the creation of each one perfectly. Almost perfectly. He knew who each girl was without having to read her name on the card, anyway. He shuffled them and laid out a tarot pattern he had developed with the help of Reiko and Eva a few years back. He flipped the cards in the regular pattern, thinking absently about what the details of each card meant for the class. As he reached for the final card in the pattern, he felt a sudden overwhelming sense of doom. He paused for a moment, then flipped the card anyway.

It was the only dead card in his deck.

Almost two years ago, Negi's friend and fellow teacher Max Linell had finally been able to give up the ghost of his old friend Rikki, and had flown back to the US, where he had visited Rikki's favorite spot, an upthrust of rock on the coast somewhere in California. There, he had apologized to his long-dead friend and given her old, dead pactio card to the sea. He had come back to Japan a changed man.**

A year later to the day, Negi had been wandering on a beach just north of Sendai when he happened across the card, poking out of the sand. Recognizing it immediately and ever one to take omens and mysterious events seriously, he had taken it back to Mahora with him, though he had yet to show it to Max…he didn't know what sort of effect it might have on the big American, and wasn't particularly keen on finding out.

He looked at the card closely, studying the faded colors and admiring again how pretty the girl was in her costume, which looked like something straight out of One Thousand and One Nights. He studied the card and the name written on it: Rikki Suvari…it was a shame she had died.

After a moment he realized someone was watching him and looked up to see Mori Kumiko staring at him with a particularly serious expression on her face. She quickly turned her attention back to the book she was reading when their eyes met, however.

He pushed the incident to the back of his mind and swept up the pactio cards to put away.

* * *

><p>Endo Haru was a hunted woman. Er…girl. Youkai. Half-youkai? Or was it more like a quarter? No, probably closer to half. She didn't know, exactly, and at this point, she didn't much care. Only, she had been doing her best to avoid Suzuki Keiko and her endless questions since school let out. It was the same thing that happened after school every day, sadly enough; though usually she was quick enough to avoid the other girl.<p>

"Endo-san, there you are!"

Speak of the devil.

"I'm busy now Keiko-san, I have to go," Haru said, hurrying away from her. Keiko sped up until she was walking alongside the athletic girl…quite an achievement for someone so short. And geeky.

"Where are you going?"

"Club meeting."

"No you're not, your club isn't meeting today."

"Yes it is. They just moved the time is all," Haru said, walking faster.

"Endo-san, why are you trying to hide from me?" Keiko demanded.

"I'm not, I just have things to do," Haru answered, increasing her speed once again. Keiko was all but running now, just trying to keep up. Haru had always felt herself to be too tall, at least until she got into _this_ class. In her current class, her 5'7" was only average; Keiko-san, however, was 4'11", only Evangeline and Abe-san were shorter.

"Endo-san, please stop this, I just want to know!" Keiko pleaded as Haru sped up even more and she fell further behind.

Haru finally slowed to a stop and waited for Keiko to catch up, hands on her hips. The girl deserved _some_ explanation, after all. Getting attacked by monsters, seeing your classmate turn into another monster and kill them, getting your arm ripped up by said monsters and then almost being eaten by said classmate could be quite traumatic for a seasoned mage; the effect on a normal schoolgirl could be much worse.

Haru heaved a sigh and turned to look at Keiko when she finally plodded up. Initial excuses about how she must have had a bad dream hadn't fazed the girl in the slightest, and when it was pointed out to her that her arm wasn't ripped to shreds the way she felt it should be, Keiko had demanded an explanation for that, too. Damn amnesia spell...! Why hadn't the effects set in on Keiko like they had on everyone else? Had there been too much of a time delay...? She ground her teeth in frustration. 'I should have paid more attention when my grandma tried to teach me about magic...' But still... She heaved a sigh. Time to switch to Plan B.

"If I answer your questions, will you leave me alone?"

Keiko nodded as she gasped for air after her unaccustomed run.

Haru sighed again and ran a hand through her hair in irritation. "Fine…fine. Come on, I don't want to talk here."

"Okay!" Keiko said excitedly.

Haru grumbled something under her breath and set out down the footpath.

* * *

><p>"Why won't you give up?" Haru demanded almost an hour later. Plan B, 'Lead unathletic Keiko all over the campus until she was too exhausted to follow and gave up', had failed. She had indeed led Keiko all over campus, but Keiko just held on and wouldn't let go, like a bulldog or something. Time for Plan C...except there was no Plan C. Haru let out an aggravated sigh.<p>

Keiko didn't say anything, just doubled over as she tried to catch her breath again.

"So what did you want to know?" Haru asked as she plopped down tiredly on a fallen tree trunk.

Keiko took a few last gasping breaths and brought out a small notebook and a pencil. "Everything."

Haru winced at that. She didn't know if Keiko was ready for this sort of thing, but judging from what she had seen of the girl so far, she was incredibly stubborn and wasn't about to let this drop.

She began to talk.

* * *

><p>After the clubs had let out, Taro approached Negi, plainly worried. "Negi-sensei…have they found any sign of Possum yet?" It was the same question she asked every day.<p>

Negi shook his head sadly. "No. Her sister is frantic. She put 'missing child' posters up all over the city as well. Did you know over a hundred people have called in about her? Negi asked. "We had to set up another line and hire someone just to answer all the calls; I guess she was more popular than I thought. Unfortunately, the last time she was seen was the night she was taken by Jonus…"

Taro looked down at the ground off to the side and maintained her silence.

"What's wrong with you two?" someone called out tiredly. Negi looked up to see a familiar figure making its way down the sidewalk.

"Reiko-san! You shouldn't be up yet!" he admonished as he moved to take her by the air in order to help her to a nearby bench.

Sakai Reiko waved him off, looking tired and ragged as she leaned heavily on the cane she had begun using after the ghoul incident. It seemed as though the ghoul attack had taken more out of her than Negi had initially thought, from what he could see.

"It's not bad. Besides, I needed the exercise and I don't think I could stay cooped up in that room one more minute without tearing the head off that stupid nurse you guys set me up with." She carefully lowered herself onto a bench and shifted around until she was comfortable. "So…it's only a month or two away now. What will you do, 'Negi-sensei'?" Reiko asked. Her skin had become very pale and grayish since the attack and, while she had never been a perfect picture of health, she looked _very_ unhealthy now, almost feeble, like someone in the last stages of tuberculosis. But that same aggravating twinkle was still in her eye.

"What's a month or two away, summer break?" Taro asked. She felt as though she was missing something here.

"I have an appointment," Negi said simply, then turned his attention back to Reiko. "How does everyone feel about it? I'm not good at that sort of thing, so…"

"The whole lot of 'em want to go," Reiko said. She grinned slyly up at Negi. "I know you can't say no, can you?"

Negi finally realized Taro probably shouldn't hear this and cursed himself for an idiot for talking about it in front of her to the extent he already had. "Don't you have some homework, Taro-san?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I did it at lunch. What are you two talking about? What appointment? Who wants to go?"

"Why, I'm shocked," Reiko said, eyeing Negi. I would have thought you'd tell the new ones about it too."

"Reiko-san!" Negi said pleadingly.

"Tell us about what?" Taro demanded.

"Why, tell you about his trip to the magic world this summer," Reiko said lightly while Negi's jaw dropped. 'You owe me one for this, Chisame,' Reiko thought as she surreptitiously watched Negi's face for the expected explosion. Chisame had come to her personally to convince her to do it; for some reason she seemed to think it was very important for Reiko to mention the summer trip in front of Taro. She didn't really understand, but she owed the other girl a handful of favors, so...

"Magic world? What's that?" Taro asked, suddenly interested. Her face brightened as she temporarily forgot about her friend Possum, but that was all Negi could be happy about at the moment.

"H-hey, Reiko-san, don't te-"

"The magic world is where mages come from," Reiko said, interrupting Negi's protest. "It's quite a sight, I understand. I'm surprised you haven't heard anything from Eva-chan."

"Reiko-san…!"

* * *

><p>Endo Haru finished her explanations to Keiko and sat back, mentally exhausted. Going over all of that again had been painful, to say the least. All the running from town to town as their pursuers caught wind of them; scrambling to escape with their lives as, inevitably, the hunters found their latest hiding place. She was a hybrid, after all. But not only that, the grandchild of a hybrid of the warring Fox and Wolf tribes. Neither tribe would accept such a thing, especially when that hybrid escaped and had children with a human, an even greater taboo than the first. It was odd, really. Her mother, the child of a foxwolf hybrid, might as well have been a normal human. It wasn't until Endo Haru was born that the hybrid abilities manifested. They had tried to explain things to her of course, things about genetics and hybrid vigor, but she still didn't understand why _she _ had been inflicted with youkai powers and not her mother. Often…she felt cursed with it.

"Wow, that's so awesome!" Keiko chirped.

Haru almost fell off her tree trunk. "What do you mean it's awesome? I got chased out of six different homes in the last ten years because of it!"

Keiko shook her head. "I don't mean that; I'm talking about the potential, here. So, you can change into that big fox-wolf-looking thing, right?"

"Yeah. And…?" Haru asked.

"What do you mean 'and'? That's very cool. I'm sure it's got all sorts of uses."

"Like what?" Haru asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no one would bully you if you turned into a big wolf and scared them."

"Yeah? And then the exorcists and demon hunters would come and I'd get killed. What's so great about that?"

Keiko thought for a moment. "Then…then your power! You could use your powers to help the weak, like Dog Boy Kojirou!" she said, producing volume three of said manga from her bag.

Haru just gave her a look and sighed before crossing her arms. "That's just a manga, this is real life."

"Then what about that time you saved me?" Keiko asked quietly. "I would have died then, if it wasn't for you."

Haru looked away. "You almost died anyway. And besides-"

"So you're responsible for me," Keiko said.

"…excuse me?"

"It's true. They say if you save someone's life, they become your responsibility. So, if I go and, say, pick a fight with some random youkai, you'll come save me, right?"

"…are you trying to blackmail me?" Haru asked.

"No," Keiko said, smiling. It wasn't a particularly pretty smile; more the sort that indicated massive mental calculations going on behind it, all working toward some pleasant end; for one of the parties involved, at least.

"Look, I can't fight! I don't even know how!"

"You did just fine against those shadow monsters."

"That was different! I had to do something, or…"

"Hmmmm…?"

"That was different," Haru said, turning to the side. Damn Keiko, butting in on her secrets. And the girl was right too, dammit. The whole thing about being responsible for someone you rescued was part of the old ways, but her grandmother had always drilled a sense of honor into her, even all the way up to the day she was killed. Denying it would just feel..._wrong _somehow. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Fine."

"Fine?"

"Fine. I guess I'm responsible for you. But I'm no fighter, so don't go around looking for trouble," she grumbled.

Keiko beamed at her. "Don't worry!"

* * *

><p>Possum clutched the cross necklace in the palm of her hand, tears streaming down her face as it burned her skin. She clamped her mouth shut to keep from crying out, but could do nothing to stop the sobs that racked her body.<p>

Finally she could take no more and peeled the cross necklace from the skin of her hand, holding it up by the chain.

It was just as she thought. There was now the shape of a cross burned deep into the palm of her hand.

So it was true, then.

Somehow this, more than the cravings for blood, more than the urge to commit violence, even more than the extreme discomfort of direct sunlight…somehow this simple cross shaped burn on the palm of her hand drove the point home.

"I'm a monster."

But…a little hope remained. Once in a while, some inexplicable part of her perception would change without warning and the dryness in her throat would fade, or she could look up through a drainage grate without being forced to cover her eyes from the glare of sunlight. She sat down on a concrete block she had dragged in the night before and held up the cross necklace by the chain again, looking at it in the faint light filtering down through the leaf-clogged grates high above.

She felt her perception _shift_ again so abruptly it left her head spinning, and suddenly everything seemed _real_ again, and she felt weak, but alive. The burn on the palm of her hand remained though, and she accepted it gratefully. It was an anchor, something for her to concentrate on when things went weird again. She looked back to the marks on the wall, each one for a creature she had killed for blood. Thirty seven rats, seven birds, two bats, and one cat. She regretted the cat most of all; she had always liked cats, but never had one of her own…

…she paused and looked down at her hand. She had been holding the cross necklace for a few minutes now, bundled up in the palm of her hand, and hadn't even realized it. _And it didn't hurt_.

"What…?" Maybe it had been blind luck and the cross part hadn't touched her skin? She took it up by the chain and shook it a little to get the chain untangled, then held her breath and looked away in preparation for the inevitable pain and the scent of burning flesh as she grabbed the cross with her other hand, clamping her eyes shut.

"…"

Nothing. Just the feel of cold metal.

What on Earth…?

So…she was only a monster sometimes?

"That's crazy," Possum said aloud without even realizing, startled by the echoes that came back.

'crazy'

'crazy'

'crazy'

She shook it off. "Hah, look at me, getting all nervous and jumpy over an echo," she said loudly, listening as the echoes played back and forth through the tunnels, changing the sound into something different, unrecognizable. In her mind it sounded a little bit like a beast at bay.

She stood up abruptly, swaying as her vision darkened for a few seconds. "…blood pressure…" she grumbled. She looked down again at the cross necklace she had found two days earlier hanging from one of the grates in a nearby tunnel. When she first saw it, she had stared at it for a good long time, trying to figure out just what she was seeing. At the time, she had been half out of her mind with worry and disgust and that horrible dry feeling that made her think she could drink gallons of blood…she had hunched down and just stared at the sunlight reflecting off of it for what felt like hours before finally reaching out to take the chain and yank it down from the grate. She had spent several hours after that just staring at it, wondering what it could mean for her if she touched the cross part. Would she explode into dust like vampires on TV? Would she burn up in fire? It had taken until this morning to work up the nerve to test it.

And now, it didn't burn.

"Thank you, whoever dropped the necklace," she said quietly as she placed the cross onto the burn mark from earlier and wrapped the chain around her hand to hold it in place.

Now that she had something concrete to hold on to…

She sat down, clasped her hands together, and for the first time since leaving Great Grandma's little shack in such a terrifying way, she started to _really _pray.

* * *

><p>Two men climbed to the top of a hill and looked at the city of Mahora spread out below them.<p>

"So…this is it, huh?" the first man said, resting his hand on the hilt of the short sword he wore at his belt. He tapped the small purple stone on the pommel a few times. "Luck."

"It's not so different from Mundus Magicus, I guess. Just no airships. You don't think they'll recognize us, do you?" the second man asked, the black furred ears on top of his head twitching as he spoke.

"Who? The humans? There's no way they would. We've never been here before, and it's not like there's a lot of interaction between the two worlds. Now come on, we've got a job to do," he said as he started down the side of the hill. "Remember Onyx, no magic while we're here. I don't want a repeat of the cow incident."

"Yeah…"

The two made their way down the hill to what looked like some sort of footpath below, which they followed to the outskirts of the city.

"I just can't believe it; a city this size and they don't even have any walls," Onyx said after a moment.

"Stop. Didn't you feel that?" the first man said, holding out his hand. "We just passed through a barrier."

Both men stopped moving and looked around warily. Something was wrong…the air suddenly felt different, and there was no sound of wind or wildlife, not even any birds singing. It was almost a full minute before either one noticed the long haired woman facing them thirty feet away.

She wasn't particularly tall or strong looking and the skirt-and-shirt outfit she wore was adorably cute, not to mention the somewhat oversized beret on her head, but something in her bearing made the brothers hesitate. And the hand she casually propped on her heavily ornamented sword _just so_ made the taller man sweat. Normally anyone who carried a sword _that_ fancy could be discounted as a poser, someone who had no clue what they were doing. But something about this particular girl... The three stood staring at each other for several seconds before Onyx cleared his throat.

"Hello," he said hesitantly.

"Hello," the woman replied in a neutral tone, never taking her eyes off of them.

Onyx wiped the sweat from his forehead and raised his hand shakily in greeting.

"Er…nice weather we're having?"

The woman's slight grin widened a bit, and Onyx heard his brother tap his sword pommel and say 'luck' again.

There was another long pause while the woman looked them over. "What business do you have here in Mahora?" she asked in a friendly tone. But those eyes…Onyx shivered.

"My name is Morrison Blight. My brother Onyx and I are freelance bounty hunters from just outside of Ariadne, in Mundus Magicus. We are here after a runaway bounty. Whom do we have the pleasure of speaking with?"

The woman locked them in a measuring gaze and cocked her head slightly in a way that was surprisingly cute. "I am Konoe Konoka, heiress to the Konoe estate."

He elbowed Onyx hard. _"Kneel_!" he hissed as he got down on one knee and bowed his head. "My apologies, Lady Konoe, I was not aware." Onyx followed his lead and knelt, albeit more awkwardly. A member of the Konoe family…and not only that, but the heiress! The future head of the family! In the underworld, even royalty bowed to the Konoe head.

The aura of cold, calculating death faded from the woman and her grin became a more natural smile. "You may rise. Now," she said as her voice changed to become cuter and more relaxed. "If you wish to enter Mahora, there are certain rules that must be followed," the woman recited.

Onyx found that he couldn't take his eyes away from her face…she was simply enchanting when she didn't look like she might kill you for looking at her crooked.

"First, you may not use any type of magic within the city short of basic shielding spells or basic glamours. If you try to hide yourself at any time, guardians will be sent to find out why you are hiding. If you attempt to harm the residents, you will be arrested and dealt with in whatever method is deemed appropriate. Don't steal, don't destroy anyone's property, and don't scare the humans. Follow these rules and others, and everything will be fine. Break the rules, and there will be consequences. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my lady," Morrison said, kneeling again. Onyx looked from the woman to his brother and back, and knelt down again a bit too quickly; he had to steady himself by putting one hand on the ground. He snuck another peek at the woman's face. She was just so _beautiful_…!

"You may rise," she said again.

Onyx found himself staring and turned red when she smiled at him. Morrison elbowed him hard, and he looked away awkwardly.

"Follow me, I'll take you to the office where you can sign in."

"Yes, my lady," Morrison said formally.

The woman glanced at him, then seemingly turned her attention away as she led the way down the footpath.

"Stop staring. And close your mouth, you look like some idiot from out in the country on his first trip to the city," Morrison growled at his brother.

Onyx shut his mouth with an audible snap. To tell the truth, he hadn't realized it was open. She was so beautiful, and kind and pretty and…he realized he was babbling in his thoughts and shook his head as he made a rueful grin. "Sorry. I've just never seen anyone like her before."

"Don't forget it," said a new voice from behind them with a palpable sense of menace. Both men whirled around, half drawing their weapons as they did so. Both froze as cold steel pressed against their necks. Neither one had noticed the new woman's presence or had had any hint at all that she was there until she had spoken, and now she had a knife against Morrison's throat and a sword against Onyx's...Onyx licked his suddenly dry lips while Morrison carefully, _very_ carefully, tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat. The razor sharp knife was already starting to cut into his skin.

"Secchan…let them go. I'm just taking them to the office to sign in," Konoka said, making an expression that was suspiciously close to a pout.

Setsuna gave the two a warning look for ogling her Kono-chan, saving the most venom for Onyx, then withdrew her blades and sheathed them. "Yes, Ojou-sama." She shot a glare at the two brothers. "Next time, come to the city by the front entrance, like the others."

That comment brought up a whole slew of questions, but Morrison wisely decided to hold his tongue for the moment. This 'Setsuna' woman was obviously upset; there was no telling how she would react if he wasn't careful. But still, 'others'? What had she meant by that?

Morrison and Onyx made sure to keep their hands far away from their weapons as the group, lead and by Konoka and brought up at the back by Setsuna, set out again. After walking for a minute or two, Morrison glanced back at the woman walking behind them, and dropped back until he was walking evenly with her, at what he hoped was a safe distance away.

"You…you're from the Crow tribe, aren't you?"

Setsuna frowned irritably, but nodded. "And you are not just a beastman." The beastmen often _looked_ like youkai, but had no more power than a human and in the long run were often considered to be no different.

"You are from the Fox tribe. Black?"

Morrison nodded. "So they tolerate youkai here? I haven't been to Mundus Vetus since I was still a child, so I don't know how things are done here. Do we need to hide it? Or…"

Setsuna nodded understandingly. "Just keep yourself under control and there will be no trouble," she said, eyeing Onyx irritably. That one just couldn't keep his eyes off her Kono-chan… "The office gives out a small book with a list of local laws and customs. Please be sure to read it thoroughly so you don't get in trouble. If you have questions, you can contact the office at any time; people are there twenty four hours a day," she recited.

They walked in silence for a while until Konoka paused at the point where the path exited the trees and entered a wide green field.

"Do you two know how to make a glamour?" Konoka asked as she turned to look at them. "We can't have you going around like _that_," she said, looking at the black fox ears each had poking out of the long black hair on top of their heads.

Onyx and Morrison looked at each other. "Well…I can, but Morrison…" Onyx said, trailing off.

"There's no helping it then," Konoka said as she took off her hat, an odd beret-like thing, and eyed Morrison, who backed up half a step.

"Ah…I can't accept that, my lady," he said, eyes moving from the hat to her face and back. She was the Konoe heiress; someone like him had no right to accept such a gift from her.

"Nonsense," Konoka said as she strolled up and placed the hat on top of his head. She was just barely tall enough to do it if she stretched her arms up, so Morrison obligingly bent over a little to make it easier for her. He froze in place, feeling ridiculously awkward as he found himself staring down the front of her shirt, horrified at the idiotic mistake that had put him in such a position. 'I should have just knelt down again,' he thought weakly as Setsuna set her deathglare to full power and burned it into the back of his skull.

Konoka took her time carefully tucking his ears under the hat and arranging his hair just so. He realized he was blushing furiously, and ground his teeth in irritation as he heard his younger brother snicker.

"Th-thank you, my lady," he mumbled when she had finished and stepped back.

"No problem," she said cutely. Morrison found himself staring until the Crow woman cleared her throat pointedly and he snapped out of it. He cleared his throat and tugged awkwardly at the collar of his shirt as he looked away, making plans to strangle his brother later as Onyx snickered again.

"Shall we go?" he suggested irritably.

"Wait a minute," Onyx said. "What about our clothes? Will this be okay, or…" he trailed off, glancing down at his clothing. It was the usual sort of ensemble any traveling bounty hunter might acquire; made up of random pieces of light armor that was easy to move in, as well as comfortable but tough traveling clothes. Then there was the problem of their weapons…

"It should be fine," Konoka said pleasantly as she led the way.

* * *

><p>"So, Mister…Blight? What sort of name is that?" Kazumi asked as she scanned through the forms the two brothers had filled out.<p>

Onyx stiffened and frowned, but Morrison gave him a warning look. They didn't want any more trouble than necessary, especially _here_; even in Mundus Magicus, to those who had heard of it the city of Mahora was known as a place with a lot of strong people. "It's a common family name among the Black Fox Tribe. It may sound strange to you, but to put it in perspective, your name sounds quite strange to me."

Kazumi grinned crookedly and shrugged. "Fair enough. So, what purpose do you have here, and how long will you be staying?"

"Until we find the bounty we're after," Onyx said. Insult to his family name aside, this girl was pretty cute too…as was the blue haired one seated at another desk behind the long table that divided the room in two. 'I think I'll like this city,' he thought as he made his best roguish grin. The blue haired girl either didn't see, or decided to ignore him.

"Bounty…?" Kazumi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. A pair of bakeneko that were last seen heading this way. One of them should be injured…has anyone like that come through?" Morrison asked.

Kazumi shook her head as she passed the papers to the room's other occupant, who began typing the information into a computer. "Not that I'm aware of. But I can't be here all the time, and we have hundreds coming through every day, so…"

"Er…hundreds?" Onyx asked.

Kazumi nodded as the printer in the back of the room whirred to life. She retrieved the printed items, muttered a quick spell over them, then held them out to the two visitors.

"What's this…a badge?" Onyx asked, taking the piece of hard plastic. "'Special Visitor's Pass'?" he asked.

"Press your thumb against the circle on the back for a moment. It'll key itself to your energy signature; that way, if anyone stops you or something happens, just show the authorities this and they'll know you're here legally and who to contact," Kazumi explained. "Think of it as a fancy theater ticket."

"Fair enough," Onyx said as he turned the blank ID badge over. He held his thumb to it for a moment, felt a quick surge of scanning magic, and…then it was over. He flipped the card back over and was surprised to see the information filled in, down to his birth date and blood type.

"Keep it with you all the time, it'll cause fewer problems," Kazumi said.

"So…what's the point of this?" Morrison asked as he looked at his card.

"We've had a lot of problems in the past. And, as I'm sure you know, sometimes youkai and humans just don't get along, so we've been forced to take measures like this," Kazumi explained. "I know it's a pain, but it's something we have to do when there are going to be a lot of visitors in the city."

"A lot of visitors?" Onyx asked.

"A couple thousand so far," Kazumi said. "We're expecting a lot more, maybe as many as ten thousand youkai total, but the regular human tourists are here for the annual Mahora Festival."

"Thousands? Why so many?" Onyx asked as he leaned roguishly on the table and directed his previously ignored grin at Kazumi.

Kazumi just looked at him blankly. "The Youkai Festival," she said, her tone indicating he should know this already.

"Youkai festival? You mean _THE_ Youkai Festival?" Onyx asked as his excitement started to build.

Morrison was grinning now. "Huh, imagine that. We came to the Youkai Festival years ago, when we were kids. I think we may hang around a little longer than we planned," he said, looking at Onyx, who smiled wide.

"Yeah, it would be a shame to miss it."

"Anyway," Kazumi said, butting in. "Here is a list of hotels and other places that are prepared to accept youkai boarders. You're a bit late, so I'm sure a lot of them will already be booked. You'll just have to settle for what you can get. Anyway, don't reveal your identities or the existence of magic to anyone, whether they claim to know about magic or not. Feign confusion or indifference, pretend you're deaf, whatever works. If you expose magic or other supernatural things, you will be punished." Kazumi gave the two of them a level look. "Understand?"

"Yeah."

"Got it. Thanks for the help, miss."

"No problem," Kazumi said, grinning crookedly. "Next!"

* * *

><p><em>*Inoue AI missing – as detailed in the short story "A Robot's Life", which can be found on this site.<em>

_**two years ago/Rikki/Max/USA - as detailed in the short story "For Absent Friends", which can be found on this site._

_Ukiyo-e – Japanese woodblock prints_

_Bakeneko – Cat youkai_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>: You didn't think Konoka's just been sitting still for the past six years doting on her Secchan, did you?_

* * *

><p><span>Onyx Blight<span> - Stupid Young Bounty Hunter

Born - ?

Height - 6'2"

Likes: Beautiful women, cute women, pretty women, young women, mature women

Dislikes: Old women, angry boyfriends or husbands of women

Little Known Facts: He became a bounty hunter because someone told him it was a good way to meet women, though he is too shy to do much beyond looking and maybe flirting.

* * *

><p><span>Morrison Blight<span> - Tough Bounty Hunting Survivor

Born - ?

Height - 5'10"

Likes: Travel, home-baked bread, a mug of beer after a hard day

Dislikes: When people take things personally

Little Known Facts: He took up bounty hunting because he couldn't stand the thought of working his whole life away in one place.


	5. Ch 4 Festival Preparations 2

**Still Waters 3, Book 2: Chapter 4, Festival Preparations Part 2**

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, June 25th, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>Negi looked the classroom-turned-art-gallery over one last time and had to smile. The students had really done a good job…the room was transformed. Makeshift dividers decorated with nice curtains and special dim lighting gave the classroom an elegant feel, and each piece of artwork was tastefully displayed in its own spot, from Hayashi-san's superhero drawings to Eva's handmade plushy "Skinned Man", everything had a place. He was looking at Sasaki Rina's sketch, trying one final time to figure out just what exactly it was that she had drawn, when someone opened the door.<p>

"Hello, Negi-kun," Takamichi said as he entered the room; Shizuna followed him inside. "An art gallery? Interesting…" he said, looking around with interest.

"Yes, they worked very hard this year," Negi said, smiling at his class's accomplishment. Short of a few of the more amateurish pieces, thankfully displayed in some of the more out of the way locations with purposely inadequate lighting in the hopes of hiding their imperfections or at least making their glaring problems less noticeable, everything was surprisingly well done; this was the best job he had seen since his first class, in fact.

"…yes…" Shizuna said in an odd tone as something strange caught her attention and she moved to get a closer look. She stood there for a moment, not exactly sure what she was looking at. Was it...? Surely not, no one would... She picked it up and cocked her head to the side as she looked at Eva's art project. She shivered and set the disturbing toy back down, absentmindedly wiping her hands on her skirt as if she had touched something dirty.

"So what brings you here?" Negi asked as he politely ignored Shizuna's confused reaction to Eva's 'Skinned Man'. To tell the truth, he had had a similar reaction when he had first seen it and, he reluctantly admitted to himself, had probably had the same dumbfounded expression on his face. "Are you checking the classrooms...?"

"The headmaster wanted to let you know the special security crew will meet one hour before the opening ceremonies tomorrow morning. In addition, we would appreciate if you brought along anyone else you feel is capable and trustworthy…the youkai festival falls on the same weekend," Takahata said, sparing Shizuna from further awkwardness. She had picked up the 'Skinned Man' again, and was poking around at the astonishingly anatomically correct organs, which could be accessed through a flap on the stomach.

"Youkai festival? Oh yes, I had forgotten…" Negi said, trying not to laugh at Shizuna's confused expression as a long trail of plushy intestines abruptly spilled out. "What exactly is it about? Is it anything we should be worried about?"

Shizuna hurriedly stuffed the plushy's guts back inside and put it back on its miniature chair, ignoring how it was now rather lopsided and the way the right side bulged out. She turned back to Negi and assumed a familiar teacherly stance to hide her embarrassment as she began to speak; Takahata thankfully kept any observations to himself. "Once every ten years, youkai from both worlds gather together here at Mahora for a special festival celebrating some sort of major event in youkai history, though few of them even seem to know exactly which event that is; it occurred centuries ago. In any case, they play traditional youkai games, sell special treats, and hold contests of skill and strength. Wrestling seems to be quite popular. It is nowhere near as extravagant as the Mahora Festival, but they seem to love it. Apparently the town and the land for miles around is considered sacred ground to them during this time, so they tend to be well behaved. However, there are occasional squabbles, and thirty years ago there was an incident and several people were killed."

"Oh no…" Negi said.

"Luckily, however, there have been only minor problems at the last two youkai festivals, so there is no reason to believe there will be any major problems this year," Shizuna explained, refusing to look at the 'Skinned Man', who had by this point fallen out of his chair and spilled his innards all over his small display platform as she spoke.

"But it is still better to be safe than sorry," Takahata said when Shizuna finished. "Good luck, Negi-kun. We'll meet again tomorrow morning."

"Yes, I will see you then" Negi said. He saw the two teachers out, carefully set Eva's project back to rights, and began running over the lists of people he felt comfortable with asking for help with security. "Asuna-san, Ayaka-san, Nodoka-san will be working in the office and the library so I can't ask her…"

"Hmm? Did I hear my name? What about me?" Asuna asked as she poked her head around the corner of the door and looked around. "Hmmmm? So nostalgic," she said as she stepped inside. She had spent a lot of time in this classroom, and it retained much of its old sentimental charm, even transformed as it was now.

"Hello Asuna-san. The class decided to do an art gallery this year," Negi said, grinning ruefully at the same particularly bad sketch he had been looking at before Takahata and Shizuna's earlier arrival. Poor Sasaki Rina…the girl simply couldn't draw at all. 'Well, they say everyone has a weakness somewhere,' he thought, grinning crookedly as he cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out what the picture was supposed to be. '...a zebra?' he thought hesitantly. 'No, not enough legs.' And then there was the whole...antenna...thing. Or was that supposed to be hair? Perhaps the missing limb? He gave a mental shrug; he supposed her athletic and singing ability balanced it out.

"Ohhh? Asuna asked, stepping further into the room and eyeing some of the closer works of art. "I'm surprised they wanted to do something like this," she said as she came all the way into the room and walked slowly along, looking at each piece as she went. "Hey, some of these are really good!"

Negi grinned in a benevolently proprietorial manner, and nodded. The two of them made a circuit of the room, looking at the various pieces arranged along the walls, and then turned their attention to those set up on displays in the middle.

She paused in her study of a miniature Easter Island statue and turned back to Negi. "I saw Takahata-sensei and Shizuna in the hallway; they said you'd be here. What did they have to say?"

Negi grinned ruefully. "He wanted me to bring more people to the security patrol meeting tomorrow morning. The Youkai Festival is taking place during the regular festival this year, so we need more security."

"Oh," Asuna said plainly as she gave him an expectant look.

"…want to come along?" Negi asked, unable to hide his grin. His first mission, if mission it could be called, alongside Asuna since her return from Kyoto...

Asuna grinned in return. "Sure. Who else is coming?"

"I don't know, I haven't asked anyone else yet. Yue-san and Nodoka-san would be good, but both of them will be involved with the library or HQ during the festival. I thought about Kotarou, but Chizuru-san and Natsumi-san would want to come with him, and I can't-"

"Negi…" Asuna said in exasperation as she interrupted him, rolling her eyes. "What, do you _still_ think we're all helpless? Pretty much every one of us is stronger now than you were when you first started teaching here, and we're _all _more skilled. You're our teacher, our friend. We've fought dragons and vampires and demons together; remember that demon that got unsealed when we were seniors? Now tell me, who was it that was knocked out in the beginning of the fight?" Asuna asked, giving Negi a pointed look.

Negi's face went red and he looked away sheepishly in a manner that harkened back to the child he had been when he had first arrived in Japan. "It was me," he said after a moment.

"Right. And who was it that took down the demon in the end? Hmmm?"

Negi shrank in on himself a little. "Sakurako-san."

"That's right, and it was _nothing_ for her. Now look, we're not weak, none of us have been weak in a long, long time. We can handle anything that comes up, don't worry about it."

"But-"

"Who beat the gang of vampires that tried to move in four years ago? Who stopped that crazy mage who wanted to turn everyone into cats at the festival a few years ago, huh? Come on, give us some credit here," Asuna said. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a look that just _dared_ him to say otherwise.

"Fine," Negi said, frowning. It was the closest he could come under normal circumstances to showing outright annoyance toward any member of his first class. Damn it. "But you have to ask them."

"Sure, no problem," Asuna conceded. "Now, let's go to Eva's place. I've got a new move I want to practice on you."

* * *

><p>Miyoshi Youko strolled along in high spirits, whistling a tune she only half-remembered as she swung her school bag back and forth. The air was full of the scent of flowers, the sky was clear and blue, and... "~Going to get an apprentice, yeah~Getting me an apprentice to tee~each~"<p>

She had always wanted an apprentice, but compatible types were few and far between, and fewer still had managed to impress her with their power. But _this _time...

"Heh~" She grinned wide, showing the tips of her pointed canines. "Thi~is should be fu~un~" she sang aloud as she went, almost skipping along.

From what she knew of the girl, she tended to ride her bike after school on the lesser-used paths near the woods. With her nose, it shouldn't be _too_ hard to find her. The problem was the simple fact that the other girl was very skittish, and was likely to run if startled. 'Smart girl,' Youko thought to herself as she paused on the deserted path by the woods and glanced around to make sure no one was nearby. She untied her ponytail, letting her long silver hair flow freely, undid her summer uniform's tie, then hopped over the bushes beside the trail and ducked down out of sight. A passerby, had there been one on the all but deserted trail, might have heard the rustling sound of clothing being removed for a moment.

Mere moments after Youko had disappeared into the bushes, a rather large silver fox holding a bulging bookbag in its mouth by the handle stepped cautiously out of the bushes, looking around to make sure no one unexpected had appeared. It took a few quick sniffs of the air and bounded off down the path.

* * *

><p>The grass was green, the path was firm under her feet, the sky was a beautiful shade of blue...<p>

"No."

"Come on, why not? I really want to see it."

"No means no. Besides, it's not like I can just go around turning into a monster whenever I want!"

"_Actually, yes you can-"_

"Shut up Haru!"

Keiko blinked at that odd comment. "Why did you just tell yourself to shut up? And why can't you show me that big fox-wolf-thing you turn into?"

Endo Haru heaved a much-put-upon sigh and rubbed her forehead. 'I never should have told her about all this stuff,' she thought to herself bitterly. Ever since she had explained the truth about being a part-youkai and her ability to shapeshift to her classmate Suzuki Keiko, the girl hadn't given her a moment's peace except when Haru went to bed at night. Even then, she had to turn off her cell phone to make sure the other girl wouldn't wake her up with a late phone call, asking for more information. She sighed again and dug around in her pocket for some change for the vending machine the two of them were standing in front of.

"_You worry too much. If you're _that_ sick of her, just let me eat her and she won't bother you anymore."_

Haru bit off a sharp retort and mentally gave the voice in her head a punch in the nose. It yelped and quickly fell silent; she quickly got the feeling it was giving her a kicked puppy look.

"The reason," Haru finally ground out between clenched teeth as she inserted a few coins, "is that every time I do that, it's _really_ hard to change back." She neglected to mention the additional fact that being in that form left her with virtually no control over her body, making it all too easy for the _other_ Haru, HARU, the one in her head, the bloodthirsty wild animal that constantly wanted to eat her classmates, the same HARU who had almost succeeded in killing Keiko after the fight with all those shadowy creatures not too long ago, take over and do whatever she wanted. Changing back into a human also left her utterly drained of energy; it was a horrible feeling. She pressed the button and grabbed her drink.

"Hard to change back..." Keiko muttered.

"Yeah," Haru said, then took a long gulp of her soft drink so she wouldn't have to explain any more.

"Well if it's _that_ hard, you should practice!" Keiko said, smiling expectantly as she watched Haru suddenly choke on her drink and splutter for a moment.

"That's...What...Just..." Haru said when she had recovered enough to attempt speech. "I don't..." 'Dammit!' she thought viciously. Even she had to admit that Keiko was right about the need to practice, no matter how much the thought of giving up control, no matter how briefly, terrified her. And she _was_ terrified. Few people had ever experienced the utter horror of some other _thing_ living in your body, trying its hardest to push you aside and take over. And, in a moment of weakness when it inevitably _did_, having to feel your body move on its own, powerless to stop it as you looked out through eyes that now belonged to someone else... She abruptly shuddered, almost choking on her soft drink again.

"Are you alright?" Keiko asked, pushing her glasses up; they had begun to slip down her nose in the heat.

Haru shivered and shook her head to clear it. She looked down at her can, half empty, and felt a sense of revulsion. The other Haru _hated_ soft drinks; she said they made her throat and nose feel weird. And, to tell the truth, Haru wasn't particularly fond of them either; she drank them just to annoy the other person in her head sometimes, but she just wasn't feeling it today. "I don't know," Haru finally said, tossing the half empty can into the trash.

"You should make sure the can is empty, first," Keiko said in a motherly tone. Then, upon realizing what she had just sounded like, she blushed deeply and glanced away.

"Yeah, yeah..." Haru said, looking away to spare the other girl some dignity. It wasn't as if she hated Keiko or anything; she was just annoyed. There was no point in taking out her frustrations on her; as much as Haru didn't want to admit it, Keiko had perfectly justified reasons for wanting to know more, and had the situation repeated itself, she would have jumped in to save her again. "I don't know," she repeated as she glanced off back down the path in the direction the two of them had come; she thought she saw some sort of animal moving around a long way off. "It's sort of scary."

"Scary?" Keiko asked.

Haru nodded. "It's like..." she said, pausing as she looked around, trying to find a half-decent metaphor for what she was trying to express. Her eyes drifted from the vending machines to the bushes beside the path to the odd gray-colored animal she had spotted before, now much closer to their position than it had been; it seemed to be carrying something its mouth. She perked up suddenly. "It's like when you try to learn to play guitar or piano."

"...is it?" Keiko asked, skeptically raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Haru said as she recalled her time trying to learn to play the guitar a few years before. "When you first pick it up, your fingers are all awkward and don't work right, and you don't know what you're doing at all. And if you don't stumble on the right way to do it, you'll just get used to doing it wrong, and you'll never be good. And if you're not good, you can't be in a band."

Keiko's eyebrow rose a little further. "I think you lost track of your simile," she said helpfully.

"...huh. Hey, what's that dog doing?" Haru asked, looking over Keiko's shoulder at the rapidly approaching gray animal she had spotted earlier. Keiko turned to look, startled, and had just started to correct her on the creature's species when it turned and headed straight for them.

Keiko squawked in startled indignation when Haru shoved her aside and got in the animal's way; she noted, at this point, that it was not in fact a dog, but seemed to be instead a rather large and very healthy-looking gray fox of some sort, that just so happened to be carrying a bookbag in its mouth.

"..." Haru looked down at the fox as it came to a stop in front of her and sat down.

"..." The fox looked up at Haru and dropped the bookbag. She got the distinct impression it was smirking at her, and something about it didn't feel quite right. It took her a moment to realize just where she had felt that particular sensation under her skin before, and when she did, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. "_You_?" she said, horrified as she took an unconscious step back.

The fox only grinned wider.

Keiko, staying well back, adjusted her glasses as she peered at the interesting animal. "Is it someone's pet...?" The fox gave her a look that could only be described as 'shocked' or possibly 'offended', but abruptly turned its attention back to Haru as she started to back up again, looking around wildly for some sort of exit route.

"I, ah, I'm not, I mean—I didn't mean to...!" Haru said, trying to back out of the fox's range. It darted forward between her legs to trip her up as she let out a startled cry that was echoed by Keiko, tried to get away, and tripped, landing in a clumsy heap on the ground. The big gray fox immediately jumped up to sit firmly on her chest and stomach, and started grinning at her again.

"...I think it likes you," Keiko said dryly when Haru shot a panicked look at her. The fox's form abruptly shifted into that of a naked woman so quickly that Keiko let out a startled scream and covered her face with both hands.

Haru looked up at her the woman seated on her stomach, her mouth dry and her heart pounding.

Miyoshi Youko propped her chin up on her hand as she sat cross-legged, and grinned, the tip of one of her canines just visible. "Haru-chan~"

Haru would have shrunk back had she been able to move. Unfortunately, Youko weighed more than she looked.

"You know Haru-chan, I've been thinking..." Youko said, trailing off as she looked down at the terrified half-youkai girl she was sitting on for a moment. "Aren't you going to ask what I've been thinking?" she prompted gently.

Haru swallowed the lump in her throat. "W-what have y-you been thinking, M-Miyoshi-san?"

Youko grinned down at her toothily, utterly oblivious to her own nudity. "I've been thinking you're pretty interesting, Haru-chan."

Haru shook her head frantically. "N-no! I'm not interesting at all! I...I'm very boring! I don't follow celebrities or do anything but ride my bike everywhere! Just ask Keiko!" she said, looking to the other girl for help. Keiko was still covering her face however, too shocked and embarrassed at Youko's blatant nudity in a public place to do anything.

Youko shook her head. "Nah, that's just stupid stuff; it's all useless. What I'm interested in is what you did the other night, and all that power that came out. You _did_ know a lot of power came out, right?" she asked, giving Haru an amused look while the trapped girl looked up at her blankly. Youko rolled her eyes. "Well, isn't that a real laugh! Don't you know what happens when a youkai blasts out like that and doesn't bother to ward it?"

Haru shook her head, eyes wide.

Youko grinned. "The hunters come. And then..." she said, pausing a moment before slowly drawing her thumb across her throat in an unmistakable gesture. "Didn't your parents teach you to be more careful than that?"

Haru finally managed to break eye contact and looked away, ashamed.

"Well?"

"...they weren't youkai, not like me..."

Youko's lively grin froze and she blinked. "...what?"

Haru trained her gaze on a nearby bush to keep from looking at the full-blooded youkai girl. She had been so _dense_...! How could she not have noticed that Youko was a full-blooded youkai? It was so obvious, especially this close...! She tried her best to calm her racing heart before answering. "M-my parents weren't youkai, not really...w-well, my mom was, but she never showed any signs. Grandma was, though. A youkai, I mean. Showed signs of being one, I mean. Her mom and dad were wolf and fox youkai...what?" Haru asked, vaguely offended at the laughter Youko was trying to muffle behind her hand.

"Oh wow, _that_ must've really been something," Youko said when the fit of laughter had subsided. "Fox and wolf, huh? They've been at war for a thousand years or more," she said, smiling down like a predator at Haru, still trapped under her. "So your dad's a human?" she asked. Haru nodded but didn't elaborate, so she nodded as well. "I see, I gotcha. So," she said, finally standing up and offering a hand up to Haru, who took it hesitantly and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "I'm looking for an apprentice, and you _desperately_ need some training. Whaddaya say?" she asked, still hanging on to Haru's hand and giving her a lively smile.

"U-um...I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, 'cause of my family situation-" Haru began.

"Don't worry about it! Who the hell do you think I am?" Youko demanded in a playful tone. "My mom was the famous Silver Fox Youkai Queen who stopped the first oni revolt in Kyoto; they won't _dare_ to mess with anybody under _my_ protection," she said haughtily, then grinned a toothy grin at Haru. "Got any more excuses? I'll shoot 'em all down one by one, you know."

Haru looked helplessly at the girl she had once thought she had known. Could it really be true? Miyoshi Youko, her classmate, was youkai royalty? And not just any royalty either; Youko was the long-lost daughter of the last youkai to be deemed worthy of being named the Youkai Queen...it was like something out of a fairy tail, really. After the Youkai Queen died years and years ago due to treachery, the three proofs of office had been sent out through the lands by the steward to be searched out by the next ruler-to-be, as per tradition. All of this, as well as the other stories her grandmother had told her as a young child, had taken on the feeling of nursery rhymes to her, something to be repeated to entertain young children, the sort of thing that had little connection to reality, and yet here before her stood someone intimately connected with those old stories...

"Um...Miyoshi-san?"

Haru froze in the act of opening her mouth to speak, as did Youko. Their eyes met, then turned in sync toward Suzuki Keiko, whose presence had been utterly forgotten by the both of them.

Keiko, for her part, shrunk back a little when the other two turned their attention toward her. "Here, you should put on your clothes..." she said, holding out Youko's bulging bookbag. "And...and can you tell me more about the youkai queen? It sounds interesting..."

"Eh..."

* * *

><p>Asuna flipped her cell phone shut as evening fell and turned to Nodoka. "Misa says she'll be busy with the band tournament, so none of them can help. Who's left?"<p>

"Hmm…" Nodoka said, scanning the list of students she had made earlier. "Maple-san…" She glanced up at Asuna, and the two of them immediately shook their heads.

"No."

"That wouldn't be pretty."

Maple Birdsong, in a position of power with the authority to use any means at her disposal to stop a fight? No thanks. The girl certainly _meant_ well, but things tended to devolve quickly when she broke out the chainsaw and gardening tools.

Asuna plopped down on a folding chair in the Youkai Registration Office and took a drink of water. "I think we should let the ones who are still students enjoy the festival. There should be enough of us who have already graduated, and then the teachers… Taro-kun will be disappointed though," she said, grinning a little when she thought of her student. Taro was always so gung-ho about everything; it was amusing. But since her friend Possum had gone missing, however, a lot of that excited energy had vanished. 'She probably needs a good shock to bring her back to reality...' Asuna thought absently. Finding Possum would certainly help, but that was easier said than done.

Nodoka nodded in response to Asuna's observation as she scanned over the list again, crossing off quite a few names. After a moment she reached over and turned on the desk lamp; the sun was setting and there wasn't enough light in the room.

* * *

><p>"I think that's everyone," Nodoka said thirty minutes later after one final check of the lists.<p>

"That's good, my phone bill will be huge," Asuna said as she flipped her cell phone shut and leaned back in her chair, throwing her feet up on the edge of the table and making the chair balance on two legs as she stared up at the ceiling. "Do you think I can charge it to the school?"

Nodoka laughed softly and shook her head.

"Dang."

"Hey guys!"

Asuna and Nodoka both jumped when Kazumi threw the door open hard enough for it to slam against the doorstop on the wall and bounce off. Asuna struggled for a long moment to regain her chair's balance, but it was a lost cause and after a long, suspenseful moment the chair fell back, dumping her on her back with her legs up in the air as her skirt drifted down.

"Hey! We need to talk about the scheduling for- Oh~ providing a little extra service for Negi-sensei, are we?" Kazumi said slyly as she pulled Negi into the room behind her.

"Hmm? What are you talking about Asaku…ra…san…" Negi trailed off as Kazumi pulled him into the room and he saw Asuna.

For a moment, it seemed as if it was just the two of them. Asuna, flat on her back with her legs in the air and her loose skirt rumpled around her waist from her fall, her face growing redder by the second as she looked up at him; and Negi, dressed smartly in a nice suit, looking down at the woman Asuna had become, except…

"B…bear panties…" Nodoka and Asuna both went beet-red at that.

"It's the only clean pair I had!"

The results were not pretty.

* * *

><p>A black Mercedes pulled up just outside one of the best hotels in town, and a smirking Japanese man in his late twenties got out and glanced around, then stepped aside to allow the next person to exit the car.<p>

A rather plain looking Japanese man who looked maybe twenty five but may have been as old as thirty climbed out of the car and expertly scanned the street. He shut the car door and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his suit jacket; there was an air of casual amusement about him.

"Are you sure she's here, Nobuo?" he asked the first man.

"No doubt about it. Come on, Jin. Let's go check in," Nobuo said, swaggering toward the front door of the hotel as the Mercedes drove off.

Jin took another, more careful look around, noted several suspicious people on the streets, and poked the twin pistols in their hidden holsters in his suit jacket's pockets. Yes, Tatsumiya Mana had to be here. If she wasn't…Well, he had a job to do, and Saga Jin wasn't known for shirking his work.

* * *

><p>The sound of fireworks indicated the start of the Pre-Festival Party, followed almost immediately by the deafening roar of thousands of people cheering the unofficial start of the festival.<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's notes<strong>: The Still Waters series now has its own page (and character sheet, for those of you who might have problems sorting out all the characters) on TVTropes dot org; you can find it there by doing a search for "Still Waters Series". Feel free to drop by there and check it out. But anyway, there will be a followup side story chapter involving Taro and Sachiko posted very soon, so keep an eye out for it. The Festival starts next time! Don't worry, the festival won't last for twenty chapters. Also, things will move quickly during the festival, be prepared. Also, if you don't remember Saga Jin or Nobuo, you should check out Still Waters 2, specifically chapter 16 and 19._


	6. Intermission: Chisame's Story

**Intermission – Chisame's Story**

* * *

><p>She sat in the darkened room, her eyes shut.<p>

Misora hadn't stopped screaming, not even by the time she had handed her over to Fate.

She shivered. The others were bad enough; she knew each of them far more intimately than they had any way of knowing. But Misora was the worst. Only very rarely had the athletic girl ended up in such a terrible state; it was a miracle Chisame had made it there in time.

She wiped some of the building moisture from her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself.

Misora had barely been conscious, but even so, the look in her eyes when she realized Chisame had handed her over to the enemy...Chisame shuddered and pulled her knees up onto the edge of the bed and hid her face.

Betrayal...Misora had certainly seen it that way. And who was Chisame to say it wasn't? Was betrayal for what one thought was a good cause any less betrayal?

She shuddered and pulled the ragged blanket up over her shoulders to better drown out the stillness of this world. It could really get to a person after a while, the sheer oppressive silence of a truly dead universe, where even temperature didn't exist as a measurable phenomenon. The air was utterly still with not even a hint of a breeze, trees and grass existed, but only as a pale imitation of their former selves, each specimen's dry lifelessness a horrifying mockery of what existed now, in this place, only in memory.

This was her twenty third world. The Adversary had won, here, and had eaten the reality of this world, leaving behind this empty husk. It, too, would eventually be gone. The only reason it still existed, in the most extreme stretching of the word, was due to its importance to Chisame; it was in this world, on her twenty third attempt, that she had truly begun to understand just what her role in this farce entailed.

It was simple, really. The forces of good and light verses the forces of evil and darkness; life versus entropy. To fail meant worse than death, worse than the death of her friends. Failure meant the death of _existence_. _All_ of existence, in every timeline.

In her twenty third world, Negi Springfield had told her he loved her.

* * *

><p>Her knuckles went white as she gripped the blanket more tightly around herself and sobbed.<p>

* * *

><p>She had been weak. She had been lonely. She had known about his past, his personality type; she had known what made him tick. In a moment of weakness she had made her decision, and ultimately he had told her he loved her. Desperate to keep their false relationship going, she had manipulated the others as well. She had manipulated her classmates, growing bolder and more vicious as time passed until the unthinkable happened.<p>

Her memory of her realization was perfectly clear, even now after so, so many other worlds. She remembered everything from that day when she had stood in front of Nodoka's grave. She recalled the horrible way the sun had continued to shine, the way a refreshing breeze had blown up, the way the world had continued on, if only for a little while, while Nodoka was no longer there as a direct result of Chisame's own actions. In her twenty third world, Chisame had personally destroyed the only force capable of fighting against The Adversary. In her twenty third world, as had happened twenty one times before, existence died and Chisame had been forced to watch it, knowing that this time, in her twenty third world, her loss hadn't been a result of being overwhelmed by a superior enemy. It hadn't been a result of trying to stop an unstoppable force, it hadn't even been a result of the weakest link causing their downfall. Chisame's loss in this, her twenty third world, was a direct result of her own selfish actions. The death of this world was, without a doubt, _her own fault_, and that simple fact had hit her like a ton of bricks. It had hit her so hard, in fact, that after it was over, she had fled back to Hodge's bar to hide in the shadows of the cavernous back room. She had no way of knowing how long she had stayed there, her self-loathing running wild, before Elle, the elegant woman in the tight dress who was always seated at the bar whenever Chisame visited Hodge's bar, had come in, sat down next to her, and hugged her.

With Elle's simple comforting gesture, Chisame knew they had all seen her actions, they all knew what she had done. It was almost more than she could bear...

As there was no sense of time in Hodge's bar, she had no way of knowing how long she and Elle had remained there. She had no way of knowing how long it had taken her to summon the courage to go back out to the main room. It might have been a few hours or it might have been a few centuries, but when she finally left the back room, she had found not the hatred and disgust she had feared, not the disappointment she felt she deserved, but a quiet understanding, the sense of a shared experience.

* * *

><p>The blanket ripped where she gripped it with white-knuckled hands, dragging her up out of those old, agonizing memories as it came apart around her. Sighing, she stood up from the bed, shrugging off the ragged remains of the blanket. Once, this bed had been very important to her. But now...<p>

"Time's almost up," she said to no one in particular, not even noticing the complete lack of an echo in the dead air. She walked over to the window and looked out over the ruined world spread out before her. "This is my last chance."

All of her options were exhausted. This really _was_ her last chance, a massive all or nothing gamble for the fate of her home universe. The other branches had been trimmed long ago; the one she had come from was the last of those she felt she could call home. Only...it wouldn't be a gamble. Not this time, not if _she_ had anything to say about it.

Chisame looked down at the ruined world spread out before her.

No, not a gamble. Her gaze hardened. Sacrifice...there had been too much sacrifice, but she feared there must necessarily be more, much more. A hundred million worlds lay in ruin already, but a number unfathomable still remained, each in just as much danger as her home universe, each just as _real_. The death toll had already been almost incomprehensible, but what had gone before was as a mere drop in the ocean when one considered what might come to be if the constant failures continued.

When all the branches were stripped away, the only thing that remained would be the root, the world that started it all. When that, too, was devoured...

Chisame's expression was hard, unreadable. Her fists were clenched, her lips locked into a snarl.

The Adversary had to be stopped.

Too many had died, too many _would_ die if she failed again. This was it, this was the last time.

She turned her back on the window, turned her back on her twenty third world. This world was dead and gone; it would never return. Those who had lived in it were gone, moved on to what came next. This world...

She reached up to take hold of the key attached to the chain around her throat. She unhooked the chain's clasp and held the key, warm in her hand, the only warm thing in this world, as she approached the door.

Yes, this was it. It was now or never.

She put the key in the lock and opened the door onto a small room in another world as the one behind her finally begun to crumble into nothingness.

* * *

><p>Chisame opened the door of the sports equipment shed and paused to take in the sound and feeling of life, deafening after the emptiness of that dead world she had held in her heart for so long. She took a few steps and paused as the campus-wide speaker system crackled to life.<p>

"_Greetings everyone, and welcome to the __eighty-fourth Mahora Festival_!"

Chisame easily recognized Kazumi's cheerful voice calling out her welcome over the speaker system, utterly unaware of the very real danger the whole world was in.

She couldn't tell them; most wouldn't understand...she had found that out the hard way. Over a dozen worlds had died pointlessly in the vain hope that such a thing would work; she wouldn't make that mistake again.

This was it, this was her last chance. She wasn't stupid; she had taken notes. As a being living outside of time, she had all the time in the world to make her plans, and now, she had a vast database of information to work with. Manipulation...it was an ugly thought, but it was the only way. She wouldn't fail, not this time.

This was her last chance.


	7. ch 5 Festival First Day pt 1

**Still Waters 3 Part 2, Chapter 5, The Festival First Day Part 1**

* * *

><p><em>Friday, June 26th, 2009, Morning<em>

* * *

><p>"Greetings everyone, and welcome to the eighty-fourth Mahora Festival!" Kazumi's voice echoed through the speaker system set up around the city. "Everyone, please be prompt in going through the main gate, don't waste time hanging around or you might get trampled!"<p>

Nodoka had to laugh at that, and when she glanced over at Kazumi where she stood in the festival HQ announcers' office, even the redhead was grinning as she read from the announcement paper prepared beforehand.

"And on a final note, this year's Mahora Festival is sponsored by the beautiful, fresh, and exciting dual princesses of the Absolutely Wonderful And Perfect In Every Way Kingdom Of Molmol, Amalla and Kaolla Su! Let's give them a hand, everyone!" Pictures of the two princesses in several action-y poses wearing the elaborate native dress of their country were shown on massive screens strategically positioned throughout the city. Kazumi waited a moment until the cheering from the crowd outside, thunderous even within the headquarters building, died down. "And with that, let the eighty-fourth Mahora Festival begin!"

Kazumi pressed a button on the control panel and collapsed into an office chair, laughing. "Oh wow, the 'Absolutely Wonderful And Perfect In Every Way Kingdom Of Molmol'? Who writes this stuff?" she exclaimed between fits of laughter. She wiped tears from her eyes as Nodoka smiled.

"I think it was Kaolla Su herself," Nodoka replied as she swept a stray lock of hair out of her face. "One of her aides brought it over."

"He~h," Kazumi replied as she looked over the announcement schedule. She would definitely have to share announcement responsibilities with Nodoka; there was no way her voice would survive, otherwise. "So, how is it going?" she suddenly asked, eying the other woman.

"Hmm?" Nodoka asked as she took a bite of bread, all she had had time to grab for breakfast.

"You know what I mean," Kazumi said, sidling up to Nodoka. She leaned over the back of Nodoka's chair and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm talking about Negi-sensei~" she said breathily into Nodoka's ear.

Nodoka squirmed away, her face beet red. "Well…he promised to walk around with me on the third day."

"Hmm~?"

"…"

"Hmmmmm~?"

Nodoka turned stubbornly away. "I don't know what you're expecting to hear."

Kazumi shrugged it off and stood up. "Oh well. When did you get so stubborn, anyway? You're no fun to tease and lead astray anymore," she said, grinning to take the already minimal sting from her words. Nodoka grinned back at her, and she knew she had been forgiven. She plopped down into an office chair and stretched languidly, draping herself backwards over the low back of the chair as she threw her feet up onto the table. She looked blankly back at the opposite wall while Nodoka shuffled papers and made notes at the desk.

"I wonder if this year's festival will be as crazy as last year?" Kazumi said aloud a moment later.

"Isn't it always?" Nodoka asked as she straightened another pile of papers. She stood up and stretched, and Kazumi turned to look at her.

"You think so? I'm kinda worried about the youkai festival, myself," Kazumi said as she kicked off the floor with one foot and let the chair spin around.

"Hmm," Nodoka replied as she began filling out some paperwork.

"Yeah, pretty much," Kazumi said. She let out a sigh and kicked off the floor again.

* * *

><p>Kagami impatiently shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she waited for the crowd involved in the marathon to get out of the way.<p>

"Come on come on come on..."

She pulled out her cell phone and looked at the time. 'It's already 8:30, this stupid marathon should be over already...' It looked like they had just started, however; the road was thoroughly blocked.

"Man, this is so stupid. Why couldn't they have held it off for five more minutes?" Taro grumbled beside her, not appearing worried about her best friend Possum for the first time since the other girl's disappearance.

Kagami looked out over the marathon participants still clogging the road, looked back the way she had come, and made her decision.

"Hey wait, Kagami, where are you going?"

She pushed through the crowd lining her side of the street, waited for a moment until she saw an opening, and plunged out into the street and into the crowd of runners. People yelled and complained and cursed as she pushed through, and more than a few stumbled or fell as she continued on and burst out the other side, where she dove into the crowd of spectators, followed closely by Taro. Someone threw a snow cone she narrowly avoided as she ran, laughing. Idiots! They got what they deserved, blocking the whole road like that. How else were people supposed to get by? Besides, she needed to get to the bazaar before all the good stuff was gone.

Kagami ducked into a small alley between two buildings to catch her breath and Taro pulled up beside her, laughing crazily. "Ha! Did you see the look on that guy's face? Man, you are insane, Kagami!" she said, grinning toothily as she struggled to catch her breath.

Kagami grinned back as she leaned against a wall trying to catch her breath. Acting like a delinquent was fun...she could get used to this!

* * *

><p>Ako's cell phone rang; she picked it up and answered.<p>

"Hello?" she asked pleasantly. There was a moment of silence from the other end.

"A...Ako-san?"

"Yes?" Ako replied. Where had she heard that voice before...?

"Th-this is Rale. Um. We met the other d-day?"

"Oh! I remember you, Rale-kun. Did you need something?" Again, there was a long silence from the other end.

"Um...will you...I mean, can you, and me, um...will you..."

Ako smiled gently. "Would you like to walk around with me today, Rale-kun?" she asked. Misa had wanted them to watch the first day bands together, but she knew the other girl would understand.

"Y-yes!" the boy shouted. Ako winced and moved the cell phone away from her ear for a moment.

"Okay then. Where would you like to meet?" Ako asked.

"At the...big tree? Would that be all right?"

"That would be fine," Ako said. "What time?" She couldn't help but smile as she heard the boy's breath catch as he panicked. "How about noon?" she asked.

"Yeah! Noon at the big tree!" Rale said excitedly, then hung up.

Ako flipped her cell phone shut.

"Are you sure about this, Ako?" Madoka asked. The two of them had been heading for the bazaar when Ako received her call. "The kid's all right I guess, but something about those people he was with bothers me..."

"I think it will be fine. He's a nice boy, I don't think he would do anything bad," Ako said, shaking her head.

Madoka just gave her a look, and she relented.

"Okay, you can follow us and make sure nobody tries to stalk me," Ako said as the laughter left her voice. She had had several problems with stalkers over the past several years. Apparently, something about her personality attracted them in droves.

Madoka sighed. "Ako, all I'm asking is that you learn to take care of yourself. Come on, let us show you a few moves or something, all right?"

Ako just turned her attention back to her cell phone, and Madoka rolled her eyes."Ako..."

"...I just don't want to hurt anybody. And that is all I will say about that," Ako said stubbornly as she crossed her arms and looked away.

"Whatever," Madoka said as she took out her own cell phone and dialed Misa's number. "Hey, Misa? Something came up and me and Ako won't be able to make it later, okay? … Yeah yeah, we all must hate you, blah blah blah. See ya later." She hung up and slipped her cell phone back into her pocket, and the duo started walking again.

* * *

><p>Misa frowned grumpily as she flipped her cell phone shut and looked at it for a moment. They had made plans to watch the bands that would be playing on the first day together a month ago! Kagami-chan's classmates' band was supposed to play today too... She remembered meeting them at the band tournament months ago, but couldn't recall much beyond their surprising skill and the fact that the guitarist was a huge fan and the bassist was really hot. And the fact that they had promised to have a jam session with them some time. 'Huh...better make some time for that,' Misa thought before turning to Sakurako.<p>

"Can you believe that, Sakurako?" Misa asked. "So rude!"

Sakurako grinned crookedly and shrugged, her mouth full of crepe. She choked it down before she replied.

"Oh well. Nothing we can do about it, right? Besides, Ako-chan looked like she was having a lot of fun the other day," she said, referring to the incident a few days before, when Ako had befriended a younger boy in front of the world tree. She took another bite of her crepe. "'N b'shides, 'snot like she doeshn't d'sherve friendsh."

Misa rolled her eyes and wiped her face off with a napkin. "Don't speak with your mouth full, Sakurako." The other girl laughed, spewing half-eaten crepe everywhere, and Misa groaned.

"Now how am I supposed to marry you off to some rich guy with a lot of life insurance just so I can off him if you don't have any manners, huh?" she demanded, prompting even more laughter from Sakurako. "Our evil plans are all gonna come to nothing! I'm serious! I mean, come on! Look at that, you've got a piece of crepe on my shirt! How are you going to make that up to me, huh?"

Sakurako was practically rolling on the ground by this point, laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach. Misa watched for a moment before her cell phone rang. She opened it with an expert flick of her wrist and held it up to her ear.

"Called to apologize yet, Madoka? Seriously I don't- Oh," she said, her jocular tone suddenly gone as she cut herself off. Sakurako looked up at her as her laughter finally died down.

"Misa? Is something wrong?" Misa looked distractedly at her and shook her head.

"You mean...today? Now? … No, it's not _that_ much of a burden I guess, but...Okay. But, are you _sure_ you want to come here? It's not that interesting," Misa said, stepping back to allow room for a giant mechanical T-Rex to walk by as an old fashioned biplane did a barrel roll above and gunfire crackled in the distance. She listened for a moment longer and sighed. "Okay. I'll see you then, okay? Bye..."

Sakurako watched curiously as her normally energetic friend just looked blankly at her cell phone for a moment before she closed it.

"Something wrong, Misa?"

Misa looked at her absently for a moment. "Huh? Oh. Well...my big sis is coming to see the festival," she said all in a quick breath.

Sakurako blinked. "You never told me you had a big sister! What does she look like how tall is she is she pretty? Come on, tell me tell me!"

Misa's expression became more crestfallen. "She's coming today, and she wants to see the band...she said she might stay the whole weekend...Sakurako, she said she wants to see this Madoka person I'm always talking about...!" Misa said as panic took over.

Sakurako blinked. "So?"

Misa just looked at her for a moment until Sakurako's eyes widened with sudden understanding.

"Ooohhh...! She thinks Madoka's a guy!"

Misa nodded feebly.

"Madoka's such a girly name though..."

Misa looked away for a moment. "...somehow she got the idea it was a surname."

Sakurako just looked at her. "Somehow."

Misa nodded. "Somehow."

Sakurako and Misa looked at each other for a moment, and then Sakurako began to smile. It was a slow sort of smile; the sort that starts at the center of the lips and slowly spreads outward to the cheeks and finally upward toward the eyes, continuing on and on until the whole face gets in on the deal. Misa knew that smile, and she didn't like it at all.

"I know just what to do!" Sakurako said. "First-"

"No way! I am _not_ getting involved in one of your schemes again!" Misa protested feebly as she grabbed Sakurako's arm to keep her from running off to implement the first stages of her plan.

"Ha ha! Come on Misa-chan, when have I ever failed you before~?" Sakurako sang out as she danced out of Misa's grasp. "First, we have to see if Negi-kun will be able to help us."

"Nooo...!" Misa whined.

"Sakurako ignored her. "Or maybe Kotarou-kun. Misa, what type does your sister like? Wild guys or smart guys?"

"...strong guys," Misa said reluctantly as Sakurako's enthusiasm swept her away. 'She's doing it to me again,' Misa thought. 'She's going to get me in a lot of trouble this time, too...' Most people, all the way back to middle school and before Ako joined up, thought Misa was the brains behind Dekopin Rocket and the three cheerleaders. While she wasn't about to correct anyone on that particular matter, she had to grudgingly admit that Sakurako, who seemed so cheerful and ditzy from the outside, was the _real_ brains behind the group. Sakurako hinted at things, told lies and truths interchangeably, and did whatever she felt was necessary to reach whatever result she was hoping for, which almost always turned out to be amusingly humiliating for _some_ unlucky person. Most often, that had turned out to be Madoka or, more recently, Ako. But this time... She had had a sneaking suspicion for a long time that most of Sakurako's failed plans were actually designed to fail from the very beginning. And the reason, though somewhat scary, was obvious. Sakurako loved to tease people, and her plans always provided her with huge amounts of embarrassing material. She realized Sakurako was still talking.

"Okay, that should be it," Sakurako said as she nodded to herself. "I've got to make some calls, and then the plan's all set! What do you say, Misa-chan~?"

Misa shuddered. Sakurako was scary. But...she couldn't tell Hatsune that Madoka wasn't a guy; she'd just _die_ if her sister found out...!

"Misa-chan~" Sakurako said cheerfully in an incredibly evil way.

"...all right..." Misa finally said, her voice wavering pitifully. "But why do I feel like I just made a deal with the devil?"

Sakurako just laughed.

* * *

><p>Negi and Kotarou wandered along the sidewalk on their morning patrol, drawing interested looks from the women and irritated glares from the men.<p>

"So...whaddaya say, want to join the tournament again?" Kotarou asked after a moment.

Negi looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I've already done it once. Besides..." he said, looking down at his hands. "It kind of feels like I would be taking advantage of the other fighters, you know?"

Kotarou smirked. "Getting cocky, aren't ya? How about underground tournaments? Are they having any good ones this year?" There were usually a couple of them staged every year, and the combatants were usually quite a bit tougher than those who participated in the official tournament...

"Not this year. Someone got badly hurt last time so they decided to crack down on them. You might check out the youkai festival, though. It goes from Monday to Wednesday and isn't under the management of Mahora," Negi said.

Kotarou looked up at the sky idly. "Youkai festival, huh...I always wanted to see that. Want to come with me?"

Negi shook his head ruefully. "Sorry, I've got classes to teach."

Kotarou gave him an amused look. "Man, you're just shooting down everything I have to say today."

Negi grinned slightly at that. _That_ comment deserved a little revenge... "Why don't you ask Natsumi-san? I'm sure she would love to— ack!"

* * *

><p>"Oh wow, look at that car!" someone said excitedly. Sato Gin, who had been wandering alone on the sidewalk, turned to see what was going on, and froze.<p>

"Wow..." she said, not even realizing she had spoken as she joined the small group of onlookers, four Japanese men in their thirties and early forties, as they watched the car pull into a parking space. "What kind of car is that?" she asked, her eyes never leaving it.

"A nineteen sixty nine Chevrolet Camaro Z/28," one of the men said, his voice full of awe. "You _never_ see those around here! I mean, come one, just _look_ at it...!"

"Yeah..." one of the other guys, noticeably unimpressed, stated.

"Come on, this is a car that deserves respect! Just look at it's condition! And that engine...! Judging from the sound-"

Gin wandered away from the group toward the car as they began arguing about the finer points of the V8 and the I4 until she finally came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of it. She looked down at the long expanse of its hood, deeply interested. She had always liked older cars, probably from her race car driving father, but this...she had never seen something like this before, not in person. The impact was totally different from what you got with a picture.

A woman opened the driver side door and stepped out. "Do you like it?" she asked pleasantly as she swept her long shiny black hair out of her face and reached back into the car to grab a light jacket from the passenger seat.

Gin nodded. "It's...really cool..." she said. Her father had liked older cars too, and even let her drive his old Lancia back home, but this...! She had never heard an engine with quite that sound before; something about it awoke the sleeping gearhead in her soul.

"Thanks," the woman said as she put the jacket on. "I built it up myself from a wreck a few years ago. Some idiot thought he would build a drifter, but didn't have as much skill as he had money." The amused look on her face made Gin think of a fox.

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the woman. "Drifter?"

The woman closed her eyes and nodded. "He saw a Camaro someone built in America for their drifting series, and went out to find one for himself. He had only driven high end Skylines and Evos before that point, never anything rear wheel drive with that much power. He ran it off of a mountain road and wrecked the car; he wasn't expecting the power the engine made to have the affect it did on the rear wheels."

Gin rolled her eyes. "Isn't that sort of basic? You know...sort of obvious once you get into the car and start driving?"

The ends of the woman's lips twitched slightly upward and she nodded. "So you drive, do you? You don't look old enough."

Gin looked at the woman shyly. "I know I'm still too young, but my dad's let me drive since I was ten."

The woman nodded. "Good man. Now, as interesting as this is, I have to go. Do you know where I can find a hotel that's not booked solid?"

Gin shook her head shyly.

The woman sighed as she shut the car's door and put the keys in her pocket. "I guess I'll have to find one on my own then. Thanks anyway, miss...what was your name?" she asked as she stepped up onto the sidewalk. Gin noticed with a secret sort of delight that the woman was a couple inches taller than her; that was a very rare thing.

"My name is Sato Gin, I am a student here at Mahora," she said, bowing politely.

The woman smiled. "I went to school here too, a long time ago. My name is Kakizaki Hatsune; it was nice to meet you, Gin-san."

Gin watched as the woman turned and walked away. Now where had she heard that family name before...?

* * *

><p>"Kakizaki Misa-sama is <em>much<em> cooler than that stupid Madoka!" Ayumi bellowed at Kondo Kai in the hallway, causing several people to look their way.

"Stop moving your head," Kara instructed from behind Ayumi as she gathered the guitarist's hair and began working a rubber band over it; she had lost the tie for her ponytail earlier.

Kai sighed and shook her head. "No way, Madoka-san is way more relaxed, she's awesome. So is, ah, whats-her-name, the bassist. Ako. Yeah. Don't you think, Kara? Miyako?" Kai asked, turning to the other two while Ayumi's jaw dropped.

"I'm afraid so," Kara said as she finished Ayumi's ponytail, a pitiful little thing given the shortness of Ayumi's hair, and gave it a quick tug just to annoy her. Miyako nodded as well as the group started walking again.

"No way, she's a jerk!" Ayumi bellowed again indignantly as she recalled Madoka and Ako bursting into laughter at the guitar shop the other day. "They both are!"

"Looks like this is our room," Kai said as she glanced up at the number on the door.

"Let's just get ready, okay? I'm tired of hearing this," Kara said irritably as she pushed the door open. She knew Ayumi didn't care about bassists, but this was just getting _rude_...

Ayumi glared, but bit her tongue on the insult she had been about to spit at Kara. She would be stuck in a bind if the bassist decided to walk out; Kara had been showing a lot of guts lately, and Miyako had been siding with her more often, too. Ayumi had a sickening feeling that _this_ part of her life, the only part she even found to be fun anymore, was starting to get out of her control too, but pushed it to the back of her mind with the other uncertainties that had recently cropped up in her life. And lately...lately, even Kai, who had been her best friend since, well, _forever_, was starting to go against her. They had known each other for the past five years, and Kai was by far her best friend. The other girls that swarmed around her and with whom she gossiped at lunch time were just...other girls her age, who happened to be popular like her. There was no friendliness between them, simply a shared status of being popular. Ayumi couldn't stand them, and knew, somewhere deep in some dark, hidden spot in her heart, that they probably hated her too. These three, Kara and Miyako and Kai, were the only ones she thought she could trust. But if they were turning against her too...

"Oh wow, I saw you guys play at the battle of the bands! You were in the top three!" someone said excitedly, drawing Ayumi back into the real world as she looked into the dressing room.

"What?" she asked distantly, eying the other two bands that had been crammed into the already crowded space. It looked like their luck with dressing rooms from the Battle of the Bands hadn't carried over to the Mahora Festival. This room was, if anything, even smaller than the one they had been assigned before. And, with three bands crammed into it, there was barely room to breathe, much less prepare for a show.

The girl who had spoken before shrank back slightly. "I-I saw you guys at the battle of the bands, last month..."

Ayumi just blinked at her for a moment before the girl's words registered. "...you watched us play?"

"Yeah!" the girl answered excitedly, perking up again.

"It's true," one of the girl's bandmates said, grinning crookedly. "She liked you guys so much she wouldn't shut up about it." The first girl stuck her tongue out at the second as she blushed furiously.

Kai grinned crookedly and clapped a hand on Ayumi's shoulder. "Looks like we've got some fans after all, huh?" she said as she stepped into the room, followed by Kara and Miyako.

Ayumi's mind was racing. Fans? She had actual _fans_? It was just...wow. She hadn't ever had _fans_ before...

Ayumi smiled brilliantly at the excited girl and entered the dressing room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Ako arrived at the World Tree ten minutes early only to find Rale already there, waiting for her.<p>

"Hello A-Ako-san!" the boy said excitedly.

"Hello, Rale-san," Ako replied pleasantly.

"Hahaha!"

"..."

"..."

"Is there anything you would like to do, Rale-san?" Ako asked, taking pity on the boy. Obviously he had never dated before. Poor kid...

"Er...well...not really. Was there anything you would like to do?" he asked, obviously grasping at straws.

Ako smiled pleasantly. "Well, I am a little hungry, would you like to get something to eat?"

"Y-yes!" Rale stammered.

* * *

><p>Madoka watched, an odd expression of horrified amusement on her face, as Ako led the foreign kid around like a dog on a leash. 'Poor kid doesn't have a clue, and Ako's too nice to brush him off,' she thought, grinning slightly. It was pitiful!<p>

She had started to relax by the time the kid revealed he didn't have money to pay for his food, and was actually yawning by the time the kid expressed his total ignorance of the inner workings of the Mahora train system. She was about to get on the train with them when a shout caught her attention.

"EEEeeek! Someone help me...!"

Madoka looked over to where the scream had come from and spotted a young girl from the middle school being pushed around by three thugs, with the local police nowhere in sight. She looked back at the train car where Ako sweatdropped while the kid talked animatedly, then back at the student, who looked positively terrified, and heaved a weary sigh.

"Take care of yourself, Ako," Madoka muttered as she trotted over toward the group of bullies. It wasn't as if that Rale kid was any sort of threat after all, and it wasn't as if Ako hadn't had extensive training either. It was just...she worried about her. Ako was far too gentle for her own good, and it bothered Madoka. She reached the group and pushed through them, reaching down to take the girl's hand.

"So _there_ you are, Ami-chan," Madoka said, picking a name at random. "I've been looking for you all day, let's go," she said as she pulled the girl to her feet.

The girl stood up easily enough, but then...she smiled cruelly at Madoka and grabbed her wrist with her other hand. "Stupid bitch. GET HER!"

Someone hit her in the back of the head hard enough to stagger her, but Madoka didn't let her grip on the girl's hand go. Instead, she swung around and flung the suddenly shrieking girl into one of the thugs, knocking him down, and then rounded on the other two before they could react.

"Why you...! How dare you hurt Hayate-sama!"

"Shut up!" Madoka bellowed as she punched the speaker in the mouth, sending him staggering back a good dozen feet before he collapsed. She drove her elbow into the next one's side, and he folded over and fell to the ground just in time for Madoka to see the girl that had tricked her stand up and pull a knife.

The girl crept closer in an odd half-crouch, and Madoka moved to face her. "So, who are _you_?" Madoka asked viciously as she circled, irritation at yet another ambush making her snappy. This was the third one this week...! "What, did I beat up one of your friends? Your brother? Your lover? Give it up before you get hurt, kid."

The girl glared. "Yeah, you did, remember? It was just a week ago! You beat them up and left them in an alley! This is revenge!" she yelled as she darted in, knife raised high.

"Bad form," Madoka said as she caught the girl's descending arm and flipped her painfully to the ground. The girl grunted as the impact but quickly got to her feet again.

"You'll pay for that!"

Madoka just looked at her, waiting.

The girl suddenly smiled in vicious satisfaction, and Madoka whipped around and nailed the guy who had been sneaking up on her in the stomach, sending him flying into the wall at the far end of the station. She continued her spin and backhanded the girl across the face as she darted in to stab her in the back, sending the girl spinning dazed to the ground ten feet away as her knife skittered across the concrete and fell onto the train tracks.

And suddenly the crowd that had formed to watch was clapping and cheering and patting Madoka on the back.

"Wow! That was amazing!"

"Hey, was that an event for the festival? I heard you guys always put on street performances-"

"Hey, uh, wanna go out some time?"

Madoka did what she could to distract the crowd while the authorities arrested the troublemakers, and barely managed to slip away after a few minutes.

Ako and the kid were long gone.

Madoka settled down on a nearby park bench, wondering what she should do. She could wander around and see some of the first day events, of course, but... Her phone beeped, indicating she had received a text message.

Madoka pulled out her phone and flicked it open.

"A message from Sakurako..."

_Want 2 c somthng intrsting?_

Madoka cocked an eyebrow as she read the message. Okay, now she was curious... She texted back.

_Sure._

A moment later, her phone beeped again.

_Good. Come 2 the cafe nr teh station. Wer a disgize._

Madoka just looked at the message for a moment. A disguise...? What on earth was Sakurako up to?

* * *

><p>Two black Mercedes pulled up outside of a hotel, and the doors opened as if on cue. Several men in expensive suits exited the vehicles and waited, standing around and looking dangerous, while another much younger man with an air of command got out and glanced around.<p>

"Saburo," the young man said. One of the others stepped forward.

"Hiroaki-sama," the man replied, bowing.

"See about getting some rooms for us, will you?" Hiroaki said absently. "Sousuke, Akihiko, lets go for a walk. The rest of you, go with Saburo."

"Yes, Hiroaki-sama," they replied.

Hiroaki put his hands into his pockets casually and started walking as the others strolled off down the sidewalk. Sousuke, a big, imposing man with graying hair and horrific scars across his throat, and Akihiko, a tall man with a serious face, fell into step side by side several feet behind Hiroaki.

"So boss, what now?" Akihiko asked, much less formally than when they had arrived. He and Sousuke had been with the family for a long time and had been around Hiroaki as a child; it was understood that the two of them were practically his personal bodyguards and friends, and were thus afforded special privileges in situations like this.

Hiroaki smiled roguishly at a pretty woman walking by before he answered. "We're going to go and see my little sister."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Don't recognize these yakuza-types? Try reading Still Waters 2, from chapter 12 or 13 up. Anyway...Wait a minute. Misa's got an older sister?_

* * *

><p><span>Kakizaki Hatsune<span> – Mysterious Older Sister of Many Talents

Born – 1/1/1980

Height - 5'10"

Likes: Freedom to do as she wishes, fast cars, strong opponents

Dislikes: Boredom

Little Known Facts: She is only a half-sister to Misa, but that doesn't matter to her.


	8. Ch 6 Festival First Day pt 2  Siblings

**Still Waters 3, Chapter 6, The Festival First Day Part 2: Siblings  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>Friday, June 26th, 2009, Midday<em>

* * *

><p><strong><span>Language Warning on this chapter<span>**

* * *

><p>The red haired girl waited for the train to come to a complete stop as she gazed out blankly through the window, not really paying attention to what she was seeing. She wasn't a stranger to Mahora in any sense of the word, as she had been to the city many times since Negi first arrived six years before.<p>

Surely, surely she was worthy of his notice now…!

The train rolled to a stop and the doors opened while she was still daydreaming.

"Move it girl." The man behind her somehow made it sound like a growl, and Anya gave him a startled look. He was big, as big as that brute P.E. teacher Negi sometimes hung out with, but also young, maybe twenty at most, and had wild, fiery red hair that added to his fearsome appearance as he towered over her.

Anya apologized and turned away, following the crowd out through the open doors. She had better things to think about than some rude stranger. Like Negi. 'Wait! No! Nonono!' she thought frantically for a moment before realizing that he was indeed the one she wanted to think about. She blushed furiously and shook her head to clear it. She had to stop doing this...! She had to—what on Earth?

"Welcome to the first day of the Mahora Festival!" a girl dressed like a cat announced to the people exiting the train. Anya only had a few seconds to stare before she was carried away by the crowd, and found herself smashed up against the rude man from earlier by the press of bodies.

He looked down at her and grimaced, and already off balance, she missed a step and tripped, borne away by the crowd as she desperately tried to regain her footing. Someone elbowed her hard in the side and she bumped into someone else who pushed her away. She tripped again, lost her balance, tried to regain it; but there was nothing to hold on to, no room to move in, and she was falling in the middle of the uncaring crowd. She fell to her hands and knees and someone stepped on her leg; she shouted more in surprise than pain, and then someone's knee smashed into the side of her head and knocked her down in a daze, but the faceless crowd kept coming and she was borne under, trampled, and she couldn't breathe, could barely see, and then something grabbed her arm and yanked hard and she was being lifted up through the crowd and carried like a child.

"You need to be more careful," her savior growled as he pushed his way into the front entrance of a small jewelry shop and set her down on her feet.

Anya's knees almost collapsed and she was forced to grab the big man's arm to remain upright.

"Oh my, you two are so cute together; are you here to look at engagement rings?" the clerk, an oddly familiar, perky young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, asked.

Anya's jaw dropped and she looked up at the big redhead, and was secretly pleased to see he was just as stunned as she was. The two of them looked at each other, then back at the clerk.

"No."

"We're not together."

"…really? You two match so well, though," the clerk muttered.

_'_**_In what way?_**' Anya thought briefly before shaking her head to clear it.

* * *

><p>The clerk cocked her head to the side as she looked at the two of them. Really, they matched pretty well. Both redheads, both with a stubborn set to their chin; and with the way she was clinging to his arm, anyone could make that mistake. In fact, they looked almost like her and Max...<p>

* * *

><p>The man looked down at the top of Anya's head after the clerk had wandered away. "Just stay in here a while. Do you have anyone you can call?" he asked; he couldn't very well leave her here without help when such a small crowd left her helpless. "Damn morals," he muttered under his breath.<p>

"What did you say?" Anya asked.

"Nothing," he growled as he looked at her. The two locked eyes and glared at each other. Honestly, she _was_ sort of cute, he supposed; probably still underage, though. Well, no matter; he had other things to do with his time than watch over some stupid kid. "I said do you have any friends you can call to come and pick you up?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Anya replied, still glaring. The man broke eye contact and looked at her staff for a moment, and she stiffened. "What?"

"…I understand it can be hot this time of year," he said suddenly, looking at her intently.

Anya's eyes widened in surprise. He was a member of the Society of Fire? "…only as hot as necessary," she replied, narrowing her eyes as she thought.

"Vulcan branch. You?" he said, lowering his voice as he took her arm and led her to the far side of the jewelry shop, even further away from the clerk.

"London branch," Anya replied, lowering her voice as well. So this man was from Society Headquarters in Mundus Magicus! She hadn't ever been there before, or met any other members outside of a few of the mages back home or in London.

They looked at each other for a moment in thought.

"Were you assigned?" he asked.

"Just visiting. You?"

"Society business; I'm looking for a particular mage. The Firemaster wants to see him. What's your rank?"

"Journeyman…you?" Anya asked.

"Adept."

"Thank you for saving me earlier, Adept…?"

"Cyrr," he said, holding out a hand.

"Adept Sear," Anya said, shaking his hand.

"No, 'Cyrr', not 'Sear'," he said, the growl returning to his voice.

"My apologies, Adept Cyrr," Anya said, correcting her pronunciation. 'Huh...must be a sore spot for him.' And no wonder, a fire mage with a name like that? It was almost like some bad joke...! "My name is Anya." She looked at the man curiously; she had hundreds of questions to ask, but he outranked her by quite a bit, and she didn't really want to impose on him any more than she had already…

"Look, are you going to be okay? I need to introduce myself to the local magic association head, but I can put it off for a while if I need to," Cyrr said.

Anya took a long look out at the densely packed crowd in the street and sighed. "That might be for the best," she allowed reluctantly. Adept Cyrr was certainly big enough to wade through the crowd. If she stuck with him, she could find Negi that much more quickly...

Cyrr nodded as he looked at the people moving past outside.

* * *

><p>"So," Taro said as she followed Kagami through the back streets of Mahora. "What's so great about this place you're trying to find?"<p>

"It's just something I'm interested in," Kagami said after a moment's pause. There was _no way_ she could tell Taro about just how interested she was. Cosplay wasn't exactly the sort of thing you bragged about, after all. She wasn't particularly crazy about Taro being there at all, but Eva had instructed them to stay together during the festival, and the other girl hadn't had anything else she wanted to do so early on the first day, so...

Taro shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just find it soon, I'm tired of these backroads."

Kagami fell silent as she continued on, looking at her hand-drawn map as she occasionally took a sip of the soft drink in her hand, until someone bumped into her, splashing the drink. Kagami whirled around and grabbed the guy's elbow, pulling him off balance.

"What the hell?"

"I'm the one who needs ta be askin that," Kagami said, smoothly dropping into street thug slang. "What, are you blind? Didn't you see that you bumped into me?"

The man that had bumped into her looked fairly average, though he was dressed in a well tailored suit and wore a pair of black sunglasses. "Excuse me?" he said, his voice displaying his incredulity.

"You heard me," Kagami said. "You bumped into me and made me spill my drink on my map and my shoes. These shoes are only a week old, and now look at 'em. They're ruined! How are you going to make this up to me?"

The guy just gave her a confused look as another, much more dangerous looking man strolled up.

Taro started sweating. She knew yakuza when she saw them. "Uh, hey, I don't think you should be picking a fight..." She didn't have any qualms about fighting them herself, but if Kagami got involved...she recalled the severe damage Kagami had inflicted on various sections of Eva's resort over the past month or so. "Hey..."

"Somethin' wrong, boss?" the second guy asked as he leered at first Kagami and then Taro.

The 'boss' didn't reply; instead, he stared at Kagami's face. "...do I know you? I do, don't I?" he said wonderingly.

"Wait, you..." Kagami said, trailing off as she squinted at the man.

"Boss?"

"Hey Kagami, we should probably go..." Taro said. 'I hope these guys aren't related to those yakuza guys I beat up last year,' she thought. You might get away with that sort of thing once or twice, but if you beat up a boss, even a young one like this guy, bad things tended to happen. It was nothing she couldn't handle herself, but she wasn't sure how well the city would handle what Kagami could do to them.

"You ain't goin anywhere," the second guy said roughly as he grabbed Taro's arm.

Well; _that _changed things. "...let go of my arm," she said, her voice low and dangerous.

"Kagami...?" the boss asked.

"Hell no, yer causin trouble for the boss, and you know what _that_ means," the man said, leering at Taro's chest.

Taro grinned ferociously. Well, it might be a bad idea to beat up on the yakuza, but that didn't make it any less fun...

"Jin-kun!" Kagami suddenly said as she brightened up. "I thought you looked familiar!"

The second guy choked and lost his balance. "_Jin-kun_? What the hell..."

Taro just looked at Kagami incredulously for a moment, then jerked her arm away from the second guy. "Jin-kun?"

The average looking man grinned. "Kagami-chan! How are ya? I haven't seen you in years! Not since we helped run off that gang that tried to take over your territory!"

"Gang? Territory?" Taro asked, reeling from the mental blow, but was ignored.

"Oh! Kagami-chan! That's right!" the second guy suddenly said as realization dawned. "You've grown a lot! You've got to be, what, a D cup now? Nice!"

Taro just stared as the two yakuza greeted Kagami like an old friend. What the hell. What. The. Hell. **_What. The. Hell._**

"Wha...I'm gonna have ta hit ya for that," Kagami said in fond annoyance as she slipped easily into yakuza slang, cocked her fist, and let him have it on the chin. The man staggered back, laughing crazily, and fell to the ground, still grinning as he rubbed his chin.

"Heh...same Kagami-chan..." he said foggily from his place on the sidewalk as he turned his gaze to Taro. "Heh."

Taro raised an eyebrow, still reeling from the sheer insanity that had so quickly blossomed in her life. "'Heh'?"

"Hey Kagami-chan, your friend's pretty hot too, you'd better start now if you want to catch up," he said, looking her up and down. He got a kick to the face from Taro for his efforts.

"Idiot..." Taro said, red faced, as she crossed her arms protectively over her chest. And then, to her horror...

"Yeah she is, dammit. She could be in next year's calender," Kagami said. "Did you know she wraps 'em to make 'em look smaller? Ain't healthy."

Taro whirled around, shocked, and was horrified to see Kagami giving her a measuring look. Surely not...! Kagami was...Kagami was _gay_? But she was always going on about Negi-sensei! 'Wait,' Taro thought; the correct word would be lesbian. No, that wasn't what she should be concerned about! They had been in the _bath _together, had practiced hand to hand combat and certain holds together back in Eva's resort...! Taro began to turn a distressing shade of red.

Kagami nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Ten out of ten, considering her age," she said conversationally to the man on the ground, who nodded enthusiastically as Jin smirked at Taro.

"Nice legs, too," the man said.

Taro, horrified as she tried to tug her skirt as far down as it could go without actually pulling it loose, saw Kagami nodding.

"You know, you two are right. This girl's pretty good. How old are ya kid? Eighteen? Nineteen?" Jin said.

"...fifteen..." Taro said as she turned away and hunched over slightly to better hide some of her assets. How _mortifying_...!

"Yeah, she'll be pretty good by the time she hits twenty," Kagami said.

"Oh come on, gimme a hug, kiddo," Jin said, abruptly changing tack as he scooped Kagami up in a bearhug.

"Pfft, perverted old man," Kagami said cheerfully.

"Old man? I'm just 28!"

"Hey! What are you doing to my little sister?" someone bellowed from down the street. Taro was left dazed and humiliated as Jin whirled Kagami in front of him and pulled a couple of pistols, crossing his arms in front of him just enough to hold Kagami in place against him as a human shield. The second guy was on his feet in an instant, his earlier joking persona gone, replaced by that of a proper yakuza enforcer, holding two pistols of his own. Taro made herself turn around to see what they were pointing their guns at, and sighed tiredly as she saw the three other yakuza that had come up on them from behind. The leader had a sawn-off shotgun on a sling that had been hidden by his long coat, and the other two held pistols.

"...uh...Ka...Kagami...?" Taro asked as her mind raced in an attempt to take in the sheer insanity of it all. The second real friend she had made here was not only gay (or was it bi? Kagami _really _seemed to like Negi-sensei...), but was friends with yakuza complete with slang, had looked at her like an AV scout without her knowledge, and had now dragged her into the middle of a yakuza gang war. Great. Juuuust great. Helloooo, Earth to Taro-kun; come in, Taro-kun.

"Jin you idiot, let go," Kagami said as she elbowed Jin in the stomach and wriggled loose before he could recover. She stalked over to the guy with the shotgun and smacked him across the face, finally startling Taro from her daze. Feeling the need to get away from this bizarro world and return to reality, Taro trotted over, took Kagami's wrist, and started pulling her away.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go now," she said to the yakuza in a singsong voice. "Come along, Kagami-chan." Just...just ignore it all. It didn't happen. None of this is real, la la la~

Kagami jerked her hand away and went right back into the middle of the yakuza gang war. "You idiots! What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. And, to Taro's surprise, both sides started looking sheepish.

"Well...he was hugging you..." the shotgun guy said.

Kagami raised an eyebrow. "And...? I can hug whoever I want. What's it to you? And you guys, come on, Sousuke, Akihiko. Put'cher pieces away already," she said dismissively, still using the yakuza slang she seemed unaware she had slipped into. "Geez. What are you, a bunch of idiot kids trying to make a name for yourselves? That goes for you guys too, Jin-kun, Nobuo," she said, turning on the first two. She glared at everyone until they put their weapons away sheepishly.

"Good. Now, back to business." She turned to face the shotgun guy, glared, and put her hands on her hips. "What the hell are _you_ doing here big brother?"

Taro's jaw dropped yet again as reality flooded back. Kagami's big brother was a yakuza boss? Kagami wasn't just yakuza, but what amounted to yakuza_ royalty_? She staggered back a few steps as the impact of the last few moments hit her yet again. It appeared this was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Madoka tugged her...colorful...hat lower and made sure her sunglasses were firmly in place as she strolled upthe sidewalk to the cafe Sakurako had indicated in her text messages. She leaned against a streetlight pole and stuffed her hands into her pockets, drawing a lot of stares as she tried to blend in and survey the scene through the glass at the same time. After a moment, she spotted Sakurako and Misa seated at a corner table.<p>

"Miss? Excuse me, miss?"

Madoka looked at the speaker and started sweating. "Um...what can I do for you, officer?"

The policeman gave her oddly shaped hat a long look. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to move along, miss," he said pointedly.

"Er...yeah...sorry about that. I'll just...go in here..." she said as she opened the door of the cafe.

The rush of cool air inside was very refreshing, at least until Sakurako spotted her and shook her head slightly. Luckily, Misa had her back facing the door, so she didn't see Madoka.

A waitress appeared and gave Madoka's singularly fascinating hat an odd look. "...can I help you?"

Madoka quickly removed the hat and dropped it into the garbage can beside the door. 'The hat was a bad idea,' she admitted to herself as she took off her oversized sunglasses and tossed them in with the hat. "Yes, I need a table..."

* * *

><p>Misa squirmed in agonized anticipation of the arrival of her sister.<p>

"Thanks for coming with me, Sakurako," she said.

Sakurako nodded as she watched Madoka throw away that awesome hat on the other side of the cafe. "Yeah, don't worry about it, it's no problem. You're buying, right?" she asked cheerfully. Misa nodded reluctantly.

"Waitress!" Sakurako shouted immediately. Misa groaned.

* * *

><p>Perhaps ten minutes had passed when the door opened again. Madoka turned to look and froze, the hand holding her drink stopped halfway to her mouth.<p>

The woman was _beautiful. _Long, shiny black hair, a great figure, and a style that was simple and yet...perfect. The woman gave the room a quick once over and headed straight toward Misa and Sakurako's table. Madoka watched as Sakurako spotted the woman and choked on her drink in a rare moment of real surprise, causing Misa to look up from the table top at her friend and turn around warily to see what had startled her.

And, with the view of the two of them side by side, Madoka could see the family resemblance and couldn't help but ask herself: 'Is this what Misa will look like when she gets older?'

"Hello Misa," the woman said.

"...hello, Hatsune-nee..." Misa managed.

"Mind if I sit down?"

"...go ahead..." Misa said pitifully.

Hatsune sat down and eyed Sakurako. "So, you must be Shiina-san. Misa has told me a lot about you."

Sakurako's eyes shined. "She hasn't told me _anything_ about you, though! Wow, I didn't know she had such a beautiful sister!"

Hatsune smiled gently and Sakurako's eyes glittered.

"Hatsuneeeeeee~" Misa whined. "Stop seducing my friends!"

"Nonsense," the older woman replied as the waitress came to take her order.

* * *

><p>Madoka watched, fascinated, as Misa regressed back to a preteen in the presence of her older sister. She had rarely seen Misa so put out by <em>anything<em>, so this was a nice surprise. Sakurako's instant infatuation was an amusing side effect too, totally unexpected as it was. She took a sip of her drink and glanced over at them again. Sakurako was gesturing energetically, probably telling some embarrassing story, while Misa buried her face in her hands and looked as though she wanted to die.

Madoka snorted in amusement and took another bite of the cake she had ordered as she watched.

* * *

><p>"And after that, Madoka just looked at Misa and said 'Idiot'," Sakurako said, making a serious expression and lowering her voice to imitate Madoka. Hatsune grinned crookedly and looked over at Misa while Sakurako laughed.<p>

Misa propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. 'Why? WHY did I agree to let Sakurako come with me...?'

"So, where is this 'Madoka'?" Hatsune asked. Misa froze. "I've heard so much about him, I'm curious to meet him."

Misa shot Sakurako a pleading look, and Sakurako whipped out her cell phone and looked at it for a moment.

"Oh...something just came up," Sakurako said. "I'll be back later, okay?" she said, and smiled brightly at Hatsune. "It was nice to meet you, Hatsu-nee-sama!" she said as she trotted over to the door and left the cafe.

Misa just blinked. What? WHAT? Since when was Sakurako on a first name basis with her big sis? No, that wasn't it. 'Traitor!' How could Sakurako abandon her in her time of need?

A _very _familiar ring tone started playing nearby a moment later and Misa nearly choked on her drink. No way. No freaking way! She turned around in her chair and spotted Madoka seated at a nearby table, trying to look inconspicuous as she whispered into her cell phone. Misa's jaw dropped and Madoka spotted her an instant later and froze, then grabbed her things and all but ran outside.

"Oh? Who was that? Another one of your friends?" Hatsune asked.

Misa's mouth opened and closed for a moment like a fish out of water. "Uh...no! Never saw her before in my life!"

"Oh?" Hatsune asked, pleasantly enough.

"Yes?" Misa squirmed.

* * *

><p>"Ta-Takahashi-sama?"<p>

Student Number 12, Takahashi Shizuko, paused in her walk along one of the quieter pathways on the middle school campus and turned to look down at the speaker, a furiously blushing girl a year or two younger. The much shorter girl held a sketchbook clutched in front of her chest nervously as she fidgeted.

"Call me Shizuko."

The girl's eyes sparkled. "Shizuko-sama?"

"Just Shizuko."

"Shi-Shi-Shizuko?"

"Yes?"

"Would you...would you..."

Shizuko looked from the girl to the other girls trying (and failing, miserably) to hide behind a nearby bush, and back to the first girl again. She recognized her of course, though she didn't know her name. The girl was part of a small group that followed her around sometimes outside of school. She looked down at the girl's sketchbook and back up at her face. "Is something wrong?"

"No! Nothing's wrong! It's just...ah...would you...write some calligraphy for me?" the girl asked, jerkily holding out her sketchbook as she clamped her eyes shut and her blush intensified.

Shizuko looked from the girl's scared/hopeful expression to the sketchbook and back again, and nodded. This was followed by delighted squeals from the area behind the bush where the other girls thought they were hiding.

"I don't have any brushes or ink with me, though," Shizuko said.

"Use mine!" the girl all but shouted.

"...okay."

Five minutes later, Shizuko was seated across from the girl at a table in a small gazebo, inkpot and brush ready at hand. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, let it out, took another and, when she half-opened her eyes again, seemed a different person, infinitely calm and mature. The younger girl sitting across from her barely managed to hold back a squeal of delight.

"...I am ready," Shizuko announced as she took up the brush.

"C-c-could you write...could you write...'Love~'!" the girl said in an awkward, jerky rush, her cheeks blazing red at her temerity.

Shizuko was silent as she removed a piece of paper from the sketchbook and laid it flat before her. The other girls, 'hidden' behind various bushes, small trees, and, in one case, a lamppost, leaned forward to watch. Shizuko raised the brush and they all took in a breath and...it was done.

"So...so fast!" one of them said.

The girl seated across from Shizuko took the paper and looked at it, then looked up at Shizuko. "I...I don't understand...I wanted you to write-"

Shizuko's half-lidded eyes focused on her, and the girl's face went red again. "That is not what is in my heart," she said, her voice deep and quiet. The girl's blush went nuclear as Shizuko reached across the table and laid her hand gently on the side of her face. The other girls squealed as Shizuko smiled slightly. "Think about it," she said, gesturing vaguely at the sheet of paper, then turned to go.

When she was far enough away, one of the girl's friends came forward and picked up the paper and looked at it while the others gathered around.

"She...she touched my face...ah~!" the first girl said, lost to the world.

"What did she write? Hurry, show me!"

The girl holding the paper wrinkled her brow and cocked her head to the side as she looked at it. "...'Flight'?" Was _that_ what was in Shizuko-sama's heart? She frowned as she tried to figure out the deeper meaning behind the word.

Shizuko heard them discussing it as she walked away and smiled gently. They were too tied up in hidden meanings and secrets...it meant what it meant, no more and no less. She shook her head to clear it and walked along, grinning slightly as she watched a vulture riding the thermals high above.

* * *

><p>Maple Birdsong helped her sister up out of the bathtub in their small house; or rather, she pulled her up to a standing position which the other girl maintained without comment or reaction.<p>

"Come on, Trin. We're going for a walk today," Maple said in a voice that seemed upbeat to her, but would have sounded tired to anyone else. Trinity didn't respond as her sister set about drying her off.

Maple hummed a tune as she went about her task and finally draped the towel over the other girl's head to soak up any remaining moisture in her hair, and left the bathroom to put on her best clothes.

"We're going to see the festival today," Maple called out from the other room. Trinity didn't respond.

When she returned a moment later in a slightly worn T-shirt and a pair of fading jeans, the towel she had left on Trinity's head was folded neatly on the edge of the sink, while Trinity had moved to stand in front of the mirror, though her unfocused gaze into the far distance showed she wasn't looking at her reflection. Maple just looked at her sister for a moment.

"Hey Trin, did you fold that up? That's great!" she said with tired enthusiasm as she dressed the other girl. "We're going to the festival today. There'll be candy and rides and...and a lot of good things to eat..." she said, trailing off with a frown as she looked at the pair of pants she had gotten for her sister. It seemed Trinity was losing weight again...that wasn't good. She was already too skinny, and the doctors had been very strict about what her weight should be.

"...and we'll probably see Negi, too. You'd like that, wouldn't you? You perverted older woman," she said jokingly as she tightened her sister's belt.

Trinity didn't respond.

* * *

><p>"So, where would you like to go next, Hatsune-nee?" Misa asked pleasantly as they stood on the sidewalk outside the cafe. "How about-"<p>

"I understand there will be a fighting tournament?" Hatsune asked.

Misa's face went pale. 'Oh no...' "Y-you won't be interested in this one, it'll be full of punks and little kids."

Hatsune shook her head and patted the top of Misa's head, like she had done since Misa was three. "That doesn't matter, it will be refreshing I think. No one wants to fight me back home."

'That's because you beat them all up,' Misa thought irritably. When Hatsune threw herself into learning a new skill, she _really threw herself into it_, and the results were never pretty when she inevitably outstripped her colleagues and teachers and started experimenting. She still _vividly _remembered the first time Hatsune had 'experimented' on her, when she was six and Hatsune was fourteen. She had woken up crying the next morning as every joint in her body felt as if they had all come undone.

"Um...tell ya what," Misa said. "I promised a friend that I'd watch her band play at the big stage...why don't we go? They should be on in the next thirty minutes or so," she said, flipping her cell phone open to keep her hands occupied. "You still like music, right?"

"Oh?" Hatsune asked. "Is she any good?"

Misa thought for a moment. "...pretty good. They'll be a lot better in a few years I think."

Hatsune nodded. "Lead the way. And afterward, I can sign up for tomorrows' tournament."

Misa heaved a weary sigh; she knew there was nothing she could do when Hatsune's mind was set. "Fine."

"And you can introduce me to this 'Madoka' I have heard so much about," Hatsune added as they walked.

Misa stumbled. "A-ah, ha ha ha! You don't want to meet Madoka, s—he's boring, you won't like him. L-let's just go watch the band, okay? Come on or we'll miss 'em!" she said, running ahead while Hatsune raised an eyebrow.

"Boring, is it?" Hatsune muttered to herself, then grinned. Now what was Misa hiding...? "I want to meet him even more."

* * *

><p>"See, Trin? The band stage is this way, we'll go and watch for a while okay?" Maple said as she led her sister along by the hand. The doctors had all but told her it was hopeless to expect any sort of reaction out of her sister, but she steadfastly refused to accept that. PTSD-induced catatonia was nothing to be sneezed at, but little things, in the past few days especially-Trinity reacting to music, occasionally moving on her own, and especially the way she had folded that towel earlier—gave her at least a <em>little<em> hope. They had been through so much up to now, from what had happened to their family to their mad dash across the country to California, where they had stowed away on a ship bound for Japan to the continuous mental torture from the demons and whatever they had done to Trin to make her like she was now...she didn't have anything left _but_ hope. Negi-sensei had done his best to help, but even that Nodoka girl couldn't figure out what was going on in Trin's mind; she was just blocked off. She just wished there was some way to-

Maple's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone sucking on a straw in an empty cup. She paused and turned around to look at her sister, who, while still gazing blankly ahead at nothing, was now holding up the fountain drink Maple had given her earlier, and was sucking it dry. She stopped sucking the straw after a moment and slowly lowered the cup.

She just looked at her sister for a moment and couldn't help but smile. "Come on, Trin. Let's go see the bands."

* * *

><p>"And that was the band After School Tea Time, everybody give them a hand!" the announcer said as the previous band left the stage to massive applause.<p>

"So, what'd you think of that one?" Misa asked. She and her sister had, for the sake of convenience and the ability to hear each other talk, taken up position near the back of the crowd, far from where the speakers were set up. They could see the bands up on stage just fine due to the slight rise in the ground, but they were luckily too far back to have to deal with the more...energetic sort of fan.

Hatsune shrugged. "That last one was good, but they need a few years to mature. That black haired girl is a much better singer than the other one, too. What was the name of the band you wanted to show me?"

Misa grinned crookedly. "The No Name Band; I think they're coming on next."

"...oh," Hatsune said after a moment. "Imaginative name." she said for lack of anything more polite.

"Yeah..." Misa said, turning her attention back to the stage as a familiar group of girls came out. "There they are. You know, Ayumi is actually pretty good-" She was interrupted as the announcer began speaking.

"And our next band is...heh...the No Name Band," the announcer said to general laughter. Misa and Hatsune could clearly see Ayumi, redfaced, waving her arms in irritation as she yelled at the announcer and the crowd laughed even harder. The announcer had a brief conversation with her, and then passed her the microphone.

"It's the only name we could think of!" Ayumi shouted into the microphone, resulting in a painful electronic screech and more laughter from the audience.

"...she doesn't sing, does she?" Hatsune asked, wincing at the girl's harsh voice.

"No."

"Ah."

They watched as a girl with yellow hair, a nice hat, and no instrument said something to her and somehow managed to calm her down.

"We-ll," the announcer said as he took his microphone back. "Here we go, the No Name Band!" The crowd started cheering as the band members got into position.

Ayumi played a few power chords and shouted into the microphone in front of her. "Hello Mahora!" The crowd responded with mixed laughter and cheers, and Misa could tell the girl was a little put out by the reaction. The crowd went straight into cheers after that however as they began playing a fast-paced rock song.

Misa's mouth dropped open. "That's one of my songs! I can't believe they stole my song!"

Hatsune smirked slightly. "Actually, that sounds quite a bit like a song I wrote for my friend's band in high school with a few chords changed," she said, eyeing Misa speculatively. "_I_ can't believe you stole _my_ song."

Misa grinned awkwardly. "Eheheh...sorry? It's not like it was on purpose! And besides, the bass line's totally different," she replied, recalling the song her older sister had written so long ago.

Hatsune didn't seem to care much, however, as she had turned her attention back to the stage. "They're really very good, especially the singer. Much better than my friend's band used to be," she said as the song wound down to a close.

"Yeah, they're pretty good. They just need more experience," Misa said. All of the first day bands did, really; the more experienced bands would be playing on the last two days. The two of them stood there watching the band for a moment before Misa spotted someone else she recognized standing nearby, watching the stage. "Maple?"

Maple Birdsong turned and looked around for a moment with guarded eyes before she spotted Misa. She glanced back at the stage and then started moving through the crowd toward her.

Misa's eyes widened as she saw who was with the other girl. "Hey Maple, is it okay for her to be here?" she asked, pointing at Trinity, whose head was pointed toward the stage even though her sister was pulling her along in the other direction toward Misa.

"It's okay," Maple said sheepishly. Misa could barely hear her over the noise of the crowd.

"Are you sure about that? Didn't the doctors say to keep her at home?"

Maple seemed to shrink in on herself and Misa could tell she had touched a sore spot. She frowned. Everyone in Negi's group knew Maple and Trinity, if only in the way you recognized a particular dog because it might bite. She knew it wasn't out of any sort of meanness on the others' part, but mostly because the poor girl took pains to keep to herself. Misa knew her better than most simply because she felt bad for her and her sister, and had made a point of checking up on her occasionally until Maple had finally given up her protests and allowed Misa's intrusions into her life. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Maple grinned a pitiful, tired little grin and moved her hair out of her eyes as she glanced at Trinity. "About as well as can be expected," she said as her hair fell back to its original position again.

Misa nodded and turned to her sister. "Hatsune, this is Maple Birdsong and her sister Trinity. Maple, Trinity, this is my older sister, Hatsune." She could tell Maple was thankful for including Trinity in the introductions, since she was simply ignored so often. Hatsune greeted Maple pleasantly enough, but Maple was wary at best, and stiffened when Hatsune turned her attention to Trinity.

"Hello Trinity, it is a pleasure to meet you," Hatsune said, taking the catatonic girl's hand. Misa gave Maple a warning look and the other girl settled down again, though she could tell Maple was on edge.

"S-so," Misa said as Maple took Trinity's hand protectively, scrambling for a topic to take the others' attention away from her sister. "What do you think about the band?"

Maple glanced at the stage. "They're good I guess," she said. Everyone stood around awkwardly while the No Name Band began playing another song.

* * *

><p>A man in shabby clothes sitting comfortably on a stone bench near the outskirts of the city of Okayama, eating a candy bar with chocolate-smeared hands, paused mid-bite and cocked his head to the side.<p>

"Heh."

He gulped down the last few bites and stood up, wiping his hands on his stained shirt as he picked up his backpack, a ragged thing that had seen far more miles than such a cheaply-made thing should. He made a cocky grin. They had finally fucked up.

"Heh," he grunted laughter again. Whatever that girl had done to hide herself, she had finally fucked up, and now he knew where she was, _exactly _where she was.

"Won't be long now," he said aloud, grinning crookedly as he set off. No, it wouldn't be long at all, now. It had been almost seven years since he had let them escape, almost a year since he had worked out their presence on this island chain, but now...now that she had let it slip, he could finally catch her and return home.

* * *

><p>"Negi-kun~"<p>

Negi stiffened as Sakurako spoke behind him.

"Hey, Negi-kun~"

He started to sweat. Why, oh _why_ had he been assigned to patrol alone for two hours?

"Uh...hello, Sakurako-san," he said pleasantly as he turned to face the girl, his eyebrow twitching as he tried to fake a smile. He knew what it meant when Sakurako used that tone.

"Heya, Negi-kun," Sakurako said, grinning wide.

"Ah ha, ha..." Negi said, turning his head to the side.

"Hmm~?" Sakurako said as she bent forward in front of him, playfully tugging at the neckline of her shirt. Her smile widened as she watched Negi's face go red as he looked away again.

"What did you need, Sakurako-san?" Negi asked, looking at a little bird sitting in a nearby bush.

"Aww, mean Negi-kun won't even look at me~"

Negi sighed and rubbed his forehead, and looked her in the eye. "What did you need, Sakurako-san?" he repeated. "And please stop teasing me, I'm on patrol right now, like _you_ should be."

"Eh, but that's boring. And besides," Sakurako added, her gaze sharpening.

Negi gulped. "And besides...?"

Sakurako grinned like a snake. "And besides, you owe me."

Negi started sweating in earnest. There were _many_ things he owed her for. If Sakurako was good at one thing, it was extracting unnamed favors from everyone around her. Trying to get out of it almost always resulted in owing her even _more, _and she always came to claim them just when you began to think she had forgotten and you might be in the clear...

"Look Sakurako-san, I can't-"

"Hmm...let's see, should I tell Asuna about-"

"That's not fair!"

"Or maybe I should tell Misa about-"

"Sakurako-san!"

"Oh! Or maybe I should tell Nodoka about that thing with the french-"

"Okay, okay! I give up! Just tell me what you want! Just don't tell any of them..."

"Oh? Okay~!" Sakurako said, feigning pleasant surprise. "What will you give me if I don't?"

Negi sighed in defeat. "Just...just tell me what you wanted me to do..."

"Hehe~" Sakurako laughed as she moved in and whispered something in Negi's ear.

...

...

...

"YOU WANT ME TO _WHAT_?" Negi shouted, startling the little bird he had been looking at earlier into flight.

* * *

><p>"So, when are you going to introduce me to Madoka?" Hatsune asked as she and Misa left the tournament sign up area.<p>

Misa drooped. And it had seemed like Hatsune-nee had forgotten about meeting Madoka until now... Before she could think up a suitable lie, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at the number.

"Ah, just a minute," Misa said as she walked away from her sister. "Sakurako? Why did you leave? How could you do that to me? Do you know what I've been through up to now?" she whispered frantically into the phone. She glanced over at Hatsune and waved awkwardly before whipping back around to face the other direction.

"_Don't worry, I've got the perfect solution to your problem!"_ Sakurako replied.

"...what do you want from me this time?" Misa asked warily.

"_Hmm...how about you treat me to dinner at one of those fancy french restaurants downtown?"_

Misa sighed and mentally calculated her savings. "Fine. Now what's your solution?"

"_Go to the World Tree plaza, you'll see. See ya there~!" _Sakurako said, then hung up.

"Wait!" Misa shouted into her phone, but it was too late. She scowled down at the phone for a moment and shoved it into her pocket. "Freaking Sakurako, never explaining anything..." she grumbled as she stalked back over to her sister.

"Oh? Is something wrong?" Hatsune asked, eying her in a disquieting manner.

Misa heaved a sigh and shrugged. "I don't know, Sakurako's being weird. Anyway, Madoka's over at the World Tree plaza. You wanted to meet him, right?" she asked, pasting on a pleasant expression that she hoped and prayed Hatsune bought.

"Lead the way," Hatsune replied dryly.

* * *

><p>Anya's cell phone rang suddenly, almost startling her enough to drop her ice cream cone. Cyrr gave her a bored look from the other end of the bench they shared and cocked an eyebrow.<p>

"...something wrong?" he asked dryly. Anya scowled at him and answered her phone.

"Hello? Who is this? How did you get my number?" She hadn't told anyone she would be in town, and she hadn't run into anyone she knew yet, either...

"_Something interesting is happening at the World Tree plaza~"_

Anya's frown deepened. "What do you mean? What's happening there? Who is this?" The other speaker's voice was strangely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"_You remember the World Tree, right? Remember the stories about its love magic?"_ the voice said.

"L...love magic?" Anya said as her mind started racing, going over a particularly humiliating incident several years ago with Negi in front of the World Tree, back before she had known about its two decade cycle. "W-what about l-love magic?"

"_I happen to have in my hand a few photos with you and a certain young teacher from Wales~"_

"Ah! W-what are you going to do with them?" Anya said, not even noticing as her ice cream dropped to the pavement. Cyrr gave her an annoyed look.

"_Nothing, if you come to the World Tree plaza right away. Come to the tree itself; see ya there~!"_ The mysterious stranger hung up.

"W-wait! I..." Anya said into the phone. She looked down at the phone for a long moment, then up and around at the crowd milling around in the streets. Even in this area, the crowd was unspeakably thick. 'It must be even worse in the World Tree plaza...' she thought to herself. She looked around again, finally settling on Cyrr, who sat on the other end of the bench.

"What?" he asked warily.

"We have to get to the World Tree plaza, right away!" she said, jumping to her feet and grabbing his hand. "Hurry!"

Cyrr sighed and resigned himself to leading the girl around. She was this bad around crowds, but claimed she was from London? Ha! He took her tiny hand in his own much larger one and led the way.

* * *

><p>Max's cell phone rang, and he sighed irritably. He paused on the sidewalk to answer it, and Akira and Jennifer, one on each side of him, continued on a couple of steps before turning around to face him curiously.<p>

"Hello?" he said gruffly into his phone.

"_Heya Scary Max-sensei."_

Max heaved another sigh. Stupid nickname. "Yes? Is that you, Sakurako?" He heard the girl on the other end pause for a moment and laugh.

"_Yeah, you got me. Remember that Anya girl? Negi's friend from Wales?"_

"Yeah. Why, is something wrong?" Max asked. Jennifer and Akira looked at each other, but maintained their silence.

"_Sort of. Some big scary guy's dragging her through the crowd at the World Tree plaza...you're near there, right?"_

"...how do you know that?" he asked.

"_Fufufu, I have my ways. Anyway,"_ she added, _"you should probably get over here. I'll meet you at the tree,"_ she said before hanging up abruptly.

Max flicked the ten-years-out-of-date cell phone shut and faced Jennifer and Akira.

"What's wrong?" Jennifer asked warily.

"Remember Negi's friend Anya?"

"The one from Wales?" Akira asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah. Turns out Sakurako thinks she's getting kidnapped."

"...and she would let herself be kidnapped?" Jennifer asked dryly as she trotted back to Max.

"Sakurako, huh..." Akira said thoughtfully as she crossed her arms. "So what do you think she wants this time?" The last time Sakurako had wanted to see Max, she had secured several promised favors from all three of them; Akira had no wish to owe the girl even more, but...she glanced at Jennifer, who was chatting animatedly with Max about Anya. ...she didn't really want to leave the two of them alone... 'Gah, what am I thinking? Stupid, stupid Akira, calm down! It's all out in public and everything! She, I mean _they_, won't do anything...weird...' her thoughts trailed off and grew heated as she imagined several 'weird' things.

"Are you feeling okay, Akira? You look kind of flushed... Do you need to go back home and rest?" Jennifer asked, looking genuinely worried. "You're awful red..."

Akira shook her head, ashamed of her thoughts. "No, I'm fine. Don't you have to get back to work soon?"

Jennifer's energy evaporated in an instant. "Yeah...my lunch break's almost over. I'll see you guys later. Don't let him do anything stupid, Akira-chan~" Jennifer said as she trotted off into the crowd.

"She doesn't seem to like that jewelry shop job much," Max said as he watched her go.

"Let's just hope this job lasts longer than the one at the clothes shop," Akira said, shaking her head ruefully. Apparently, security cameras had caught Jennifer behaving very...oddly...with some foreign girl in one of the changing rooms. Jennifer had claimed she was only helping the girl try on a dress, but apparently between the groping and the request to have her babies, her boss had seen things differently and she had been fired. It was far from the first time she had been fired in the city, and it was no doubt not the last time. Akira shook her head again and sighed.

"Well, let's go save whoever's trying to kidnap Anya," Max said as he rolled his eyes and sighed.

* * *

><p>The World Tree plaza was extremely crowded with tourists, lost people who had headed for the easiest-to-locate landmark, and couples trying out the age-old story of the World Tree's love magic when Misa and Hatsune arrived.<p>

Misa frowned as she shaded her eyes and tried to look over the heads of the crowd to catch a glimpse of Sakurako. "Where is she..."

"Hm?" Hatsune asked as she expertly scanned the crowd. Her eyes caught a familiar face and paused for an instant before moving on. "Who are you looking for?"

"Sakurako..." Misa said as she hopped a few times in an attempt to see above the crowd.

Hatsune scanned the crowd again with ease, being several inches taller than her younger sister, and finally spotted the other girl at the foot of the tree. "This way," she said, taking Misa's arm.

Misa allowed Hatsune to lead her through the crowd toward the tree, where they ran into Sakurako and Negi.

"Hey," Misa said carefully, raising her hand in greeting as she looked between Negi and Sakurako.

"Heya," Sakurako said, beaming at Misa and Hatsune.

"So..." Hatsune said. Sakurako elbowed Negi, who jumped. He took a deep breath, visibly steeled himself, and walked mechanically over to Misa and took her hand.

"He-hello, Misa. Fancy meeting you here," he said awkwardly.

"Eh...eh...hello, M-Madoka?" Misa replied. Negi bobbed his head a fraction of an inch, and Misa let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, see Hatsune? This is Madoka. Madoka, meet my big sister Hatsune."

Negi turned to the older woman and smiled charmingly. "Hello, Hatsune-san. It is a pleasure to meet you," he said pleasantly, taking her hand.

Hatsune smiled in amusement. "A pleasure to meet you too. I have heard _so much_ about you, but you aren't at all what I imagined."

"Oh?" Negi asked, taken aback.

"Wh-what did you imagine, Hatsune-nee?" Misa asked, a little frantically.

"Well for one thing, I would have thought you would be much bigger. You are much thinner that I imagined, and I doubt you could be more than 5'10". And also...why are you standing so far from Misa?"

Misa and Negi looked at each other frantically for an instant before Misa crammed into his side, slipping her arm around his lower back and holding him in place while he awkwardly draped an arm around her shoulder a moment later. Misa smiled frantically at her sister while Negi turned his thoughts toward anything to distract him from the way Misa's body felt against his side.

"See? We're plenty close!" Misa said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah! Aren't we, Negi?" Misa asked.

"Yes, we are very...close..." Negi said, his voice faltering as he realized what Misa had just said.

Misa, herself, realized it an instant after Negi. 'Oh no...'

"'Negi?' Onion?" Hatsune asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the two of them standing awkwardly together. Both were now thoroughly red faced, clearly embarrassed to be so close to each other.

"It's a nickname!" Misa blurted out after several tense seconds.

"Yes! It's only a nickname!" Negi added an instant later.

Hatsune crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side as she looked at them skeptically. 'This could be fun...' "A nickname?"

"Yeah!" Misa said, nodding.

"And how, praytell, did he get a nickname like _that_?" Hatsune asked.

Negi opened and shut his mouth a few times as his mind raced, trying to come up with a suitable story, but Misa beat him to it.

"It was at band camp!"

"It happened at band camp?" Hatsune asked, suddenly looking at Negi in a whole new way.

"...band camp?" Negi asked in confusion. What was he missing here? He looked from Misa to Hatsune and paused as she caught his gaze and held it for a few seconds.

"...he doesn't seem the type," Hatsune finally said.

"You hussy! Get your hands off Negi!" a girly voice squealed as a small red blur shot in front of Hatsune and tackled Negi around the middle, knocking him away from Misa, who staggered back.

"What the-"

"Negi! How could you? You know better than to trust that blue haired harpy!" Anya said as she scolded Negi, who looked frantically back and forth between Anya, Hatsune, and Misa.

"My hair's not blue!" Misa shouted. "And I'm not a harpy!" she added a second later as an afterthought.

"Oh? And who is this?" Hatsune asked, her voice terrifyingly pleasant. Misa whirled around to face her again.

"She's...she's...she's his long lost sister!" Misa said, scrambling for a suitable lie.

"Hey Anya, wait!" a big red haired man said gruffly, trotting up after Anya. He spotted Hatsune and stumbled in shocked surprise at her enchanting beauty.

Misa was again knocked off her game and just stared at the strange man for a moment, her jaw dropped as she her eyes ran over his body. He was huge! Almost as tall as Max-sensei but way bigger, like some kind of weightlifter...! Oh, wow...!

"Ahem," Hatsune said to regain Misa's attention. "You said she was his sister?" she asked pointedly.

Anya finally got off of Negi and let him regain his feet. "I'm not his sister!"

"She's _like_ a sister to him!" Misa said, waving her arms. "Isn't that right, Negi?" she asked frantically as she looked at him, her eyes pleading for help.

Negi looked from Misa down to Anya and back to Misa again, before turning to Hatsune and looking her in the eye. "Yes, she is like a sister to me," he said, following it up with a perfect smile.

Hatsune was unimpressed, but Anya staggered from the shock of Negi's blunt assessment of their relationship and wobbled off. Cyrr finally snapped out of it and moved to stop her from getting trampled by the crowd.

"...like a...like a sister..." Anya muttered.

"Like a sister," Hatsune said, deadpan.

"Yeah! Like a sister, right Ne...I mean Madoka? Ha ha ha!" Misa said, grabbing Negi again and squishing against him even tighter than the last time. Her breast squished against the side of his chest and he almost jumped out of his skin.

"Y-y-yeah! Ha ha ha!"

"Ha ha ha!"

"Ha ha ha!"

"..."

"Wait!" Anya shouted, then barreled into the two of them again. She slung Negi around behind her and glared at Misa. "I don't know what's going on you, you succubus! But keep your claws out of Negi!" she said, clutching him protectively around his waist.

"Er...ah...Anya..." Negi began, clearly clueless as to how to explain the situation without exposing their hopelessly tangled web of lies to Misa's sister.

Hatsune finally heaved a weary sigh and slouched slightly. She turned to Negi. "So I take it, Mister Springfield, that you owe my sister some sort of favor?" she asked in near-perfect English while Sakurako snickered in the background and continued snapping pictures, as she had been doing since the beginning.

Negi and Misa were dumbstruck as they looked at each other.

"How...how did you know?" Misa demanded.

"What's going on?" Anya asked warily as she looked back and forth between the other three.

"Wait, Negi Springfield? As in _the_ Negi Springfield?" Cyrr asked suddenly in the silence that followed.

Negi cringed and turned around to look at the man. "Er...yes?"

Cyrr's eyes widened as he looked down at him. "_You_ are Negi Springfield? Wow, you're famous!" he said, suddenly losing the atmosphere of grim danger he had apparently been cultivating since getting off the train, replacing it with blatant fanboyism. "_Everybody_ knows who you are! Will you sign an autograph for me? Hey, uh...how about a few? I know the guys back home would love to have one!"

Negi just blinked as his mind tried to register the fact that this hulking stranger was not only a fanboy, but _his_ fanboy. "...excuse me?"

* * *

><p>"Come on Hatsuneeee, tell meeee!" Misa whined a moment later when the insanity had died down somewhat. "How did you know?"<p>

"It is actually fairly obvious, if you think about it," Hatsune replied. She let Misa squirm for several seconds. "For one thing, does he even _look_ like someone who would be named 'Madoka'?" she asked, gesturing to Negi, who was now having a lively discussion with the big stranger.

Misa just looked at her sister blankly, then turned her gaze toward the obviously European Negi, then back to Hatsune again. "Oh..."

"And for another," Hatsune said, shaking her finger at Misa. "I did some research on this town and the school before I left home. Mr. Springfield here is quite well known and liked within the community." She paused for a moment as she looked at the red headed stranger talking animatedly to the teacher. "...I wasn't aware of just _how_ well liked he is, but..."

Misa slumped a little. She should have known Hatsune wouldn't overlook something like that...!

"But lastly and most obvious of all," Hatsune said, giving Misa a pointed look, as if she must be some sort of idiot. "You must have sent hundreds of camera phone pictures of the both of you to mother over the years."

Misa reeled from the shock of this revelation. How could she be so stupid? How could she—wait. _Someone_ had arranged this, someone who would have known most of this and should have pointed out the obvious mistakes in the plan.

"Sakurako...!" Misa growled as she turned to glare at the other girl.

"Hey, there's Madoka now!" Sakurako said, pointing into the crowd. Misa turned and, to her horror, saw Madoka herself trying to hide in the crowd. Sakurako had betrayed her...! That, that...that evil cat!

"What's going on here?" Max said as he finally reached the group and his eyes strayed to the stranger that had come with Anya.

"M-Madoka!" Misa said frantically, clinging to Max's arm.

Akira froze as the color drained out of her. "...Max...but...but Misa...and..."

Max was taken totally off guard and contemplated shaking Misa off until she looked up at him pleadingly, and he relented. He sighed. "What's going on?"

"His name is Max Linell, aka Scary Max-sensei," Hatsune said, looking pointedly at Misa.

"How...?" Misa asked in horror.

"I researched the faculty, remember?" Hatsune replied, giving her a look that suggested Misa might have more than a few screws loose.

"Er...hello?" Max said to the woman who resembled Misa as his attention strayed back to the big stranger, who was now looking at him. They glared at each other when their eyes met.

"Misa, you will explain why you are hiding Madoka from me," Hatsune said in a voice of deadly calm as she abruptly changed tack.

Misa let go of Max and was about to bolt when Hatsune darted forward and caught her arm.

"Hatsune, let go! You're hurting me!"

"Don't be pathetic, you are tougher than that. This has gone on too long. Now tell me why you're lying to me!" Hatsune demanded as she gave Misa a shake. "There's no point trying to escape from me. You remember how things were when we were younger," she said, pouring on the intimidation. To her surprise and not a little joy, Misa appeared totally unfazed by the threat, one that would have had her shaking in her rather fashionable boots as recently as a few years ago. 'So, there must be something about this Madoka that she doesn't want me to know that scares her more than what I could do to her,' Hatsune thought. 'Interesting.'

"Lets take a walk and cool our heads," Hatsune suggested after a tense moment. Misa pouted but stopped trying to escape, so Hatsune let go of her arm.

Misa glanced back at the others; Negi was trying to run damage control on Anya, who was giving him an earful in return while Max and that big stranger were glaring at each other and making strained faces while they talked quietly. Akira had staggered over to the tree and collapsed in shock, and Sakurako and Madoka were nowhere in sight. She frowned at something about Max and the stranger...something about the big stranger reminded her of Max as he had been when they had first met...she shook her head. 'I can't let my mind wander when Hatsune's around,' she reminded herself. 'Come on Misa, it's time to lie like you've never lied before...!'

* * *

><p>"Hatsune!" Misa said after they had been walking for a moment.<p>

"Yes, little sister?" Hatsune replied, putting special emphasis on the word 'little'.

Misa blinked. "Er...how have you been?" she asked pleasantly.

Hatsune just looked at her for a moment. "Fine." They walked in silence for a long moment. "Mother misses you."

"Yeah..." Misa replied, rubbing the back of her head. 'This is just so freaking _awkward_...!' "So did you fly? Or did you take the train down here?"

Hatsune grinned crookedly. "I drove."

Misa stumbled, but quickly regained her composure. "You didn't..."

Hatsune shook her head. "The Camaro."

Misa heaved a sigh of relief.

"You always liked the Corvette, after all. It wouldn't feel right just taking it like that," Hatsune said, calmly stepping around a wandering dinosaur robot without comment.

"Yeah..." Misa replied.

They descended into another awkward silence as Hatsune turned from the sidewalk onto a gravel pathway apparently at random. Several minutes passed quietly as they walked on, moving further from the crowds until they could no longer see them through the trees on either side of the deserted path. Hatsune pulled up to a stop at a small stone bench and sat down, patting the space beside her to indicate that Misa should sit as well. After a moment, Misa complied.

"So," Hatsune said.

"So..." Misa said cautiously. What was Hatsune trying to do?

"Why do you not want me to find out more about this Madoka person?"

Misa jerked at the name and shot a quick look at her sister, who was looking at something she held in her hand. It looked like a keyring. "It's not-"

"Don't lie to me," Hatsune said softly. Something in her voice stopped Misa from voicing her most recent variation on the theme.

"I...I just don't think you would approve," Misa finally said.

Hatsune gave her an odd look, but turned her attention back to the silly little charm on the keyring in her hands before Misa could meet her eyes. "Why would you think that?" she asked.

"When have I ever done _anything_ you approved of?" Misa replied, the seriousness in her tone driving the point home. Hatsune winced.

"It's not like that," the older woman muttered as she looked away. She heard Misa's disagreeing snort and frowned. Ugh, why was this kind of thing so hard to say? "Mother worries about you," she said again after a moment.

"Oh?" More awkward silence.

Hatsune took a deep breath. "I...I...I guess I worry about you too," she said, and let out a sigh. 'There, I said it, are you happy now?' she thought reproachfully. Her stupid little sister...always dragging embarrassing things like that out into the open...!

Misa was shocked into silence for a moment at her sister's revelation. _Never_ before had Hatsune _ever_ said anything like that...! She tried to respond, tried to think of some witty comment to diffuse the embarrassed tension, but her mind refused to work properly. All she could manage was to squeak out a weak "You do?"

Hatsune scowled, but nodded. "Yeah, the big ogre has a heart," she said as her scowl deepened.

"I didn't mean that!"

"Yes you did," Hatsune spat. "I know what you always thought about me."

Misa shrunk back. The hurt in Hatsune's voice just then had been real. She started to deny it, started to say something about how Hatsune was overthinking things, but she couldn't do it, mostly because Hatsune was right. She hadn't ever really thought about it before, but...she hadn't ever really considered Hatsune to be anything _but_ an ogre, a big bully. It twisted her heart to think about it, but she knew it was true. Why did she feel like crying all of a sudden? She wiped some of the building moisture from her eyes and took a deep breath and looked straight ahead at the trees on the other side of the path.

"Madoka's a girl."

"..."

Bothered by Hatsune's non-response, Misa chanced a quick look and was shocked by the tiredness in Hatsune's eyes. "H...Hatsune? Hatsune-nee?"

"So that's how it was..." Hatsune said tiredly as she leaned forward, propped her elbows on her knees, and dropped her face into her hands. "So that's it..."

"H...Hatsune-nee? Are you...are you mad at me?" Misa asked, again regressing back to childhood. The last time Hatsune had been really mad at her was when Misa had broken the window of her car playing baseball with the neighborhood boys. Hatsune had been quiet then, too, but she hadn't looked so sad...

"No, I'm not mad," Hatsune said tiredly after a moment as she remained in the same position. "Mother will be though."

Misa shrank back a little at that. "Are you going to tell her?"

"I pretty much have to, don't I?" Hatsune replied as she sat up. Misa was startled to see her sister's eyes were wet with tears, and something snapped.

"Why are you crying? Are you that disappointed in me?" Misa demanded as she shot up from the bench. "You are, aren't you? What's the matter with you? What does it matter to you who I'm with, huh?"

Hatsune wiped her eyes and took a moment to calm herself, waiting until Misa stopped ranting. When it looked like she wasn't planning on stopping any time soon, Hatsune decided to speak anyway. "I'm going somewhere far away."

"And another thing! How dare-" Something in the tone of Hatsune's voice stopped Misa's rant mid-sentence. "What do you mean?" she asked guardedly.

"I mean I'm going somewhere far away, and I won't be able to protect you anymore," Hatsune said.

"Protect me? Hatsune, you live in _Hokkaido,_" Misa said sarcastically.

"I have to leave," Hatsune continued stubbornly. "I wish I could tell you more, but...I just can't. I can't...I can't even tell Yuji," Hatsune said, again fumbling with the keychain and the charm that Misa had noticed a moment before.

"But you guys are just friends, right?" Misa asked, hating herself for feeling so relieved that the focus had been lifted off her shoulders.

"He asked me to marry him," Hatsune said after a moment's pause.

"Ah..."

"..."

Misa just looked at her sister with her eyes wide as that bombshell finally made its way through. Yuji and her sister were getting married? Oh wow...! But wait, what did she mean she couldn't tell Yuji she was going away?

"Hatsune, what's going on?" Misa asked, suddenly serious.

"I can't tell you," Hatsune said, still fumbling with the keychain.

Misa just looked at her for a moment. "Hatsune? Where are you going?"

"I can't-"

Misa turned and grabbed the collar of Hatsune's shirt with both hands, half-lifting her from the bench. "Where are you going? What's so terrible that you can't tell me about it? And if you can't tell me, why did you even come here? Was it just to ruin my day or what?" she demanded, secretly reveling in the surprised look on her sister's face. She had _never_ seen Hatsune so off balance before...! She knew she should feel ashamed for this, but it felt too good...!

Hatsune calmly stood up to her full height, looked down at Misa, who suddenly had second thoughts about her current course of action, calmly reached up with both hands, and pinched a particular spot on both hands between Misa's thumb and forefinger. Misa let go quickly.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!"

Hatsune's frown lessened. Misa was always Misa, after all. "I came to tell you so you would be prepared when Mother calls later. She'll want you to come home once I've gone, you know. But since we don't have any brothers, and I'm probably not coming back for a long, long time..." Hatsune said, trailing off as she looked at Misa pointedly, hoping she would get the message.

"...she'll want someone to carry on the family legacy..." Misa said dully. That would mean marriage to some guy, followed by children. It wouldn't be so bad if it was someone like Negi or even Kotarou, but both of them were already taken, and...and there was no way Mother would accept someone like- "Oh no..."

"And so you see the problem," Hatsune said tiredly. "I was planning on marrying Yuji eventually so you wouldn't have to worry about these things, but that...I guess it won't happen now. I'm sorry Misa, but there's no way I can-"

"We'll convince her!" Misa said suddenly. "Convince her Madoka's a guy! It'll-"

"It won't work. You couldn't even convince me," Hatsune said.

"Then I'll just...I'll just renounce my family name," Misa finally said. Hatsune gave her a measuring look.

"It means that much to you, does it?" she asked seriously. Misa stubbornly refused to reply, and Hatsune felt a smile creeping over her lips. So Misa was finally starting to grow a backbone! "I guess I might be able to talk to her, but I can't promise anything." She sat down and gestured for Misa to join her again on the bench. When Misa had made herself comfortable, she held out the keychain, letting the silly little charm dangle in front of Misa's face.

"What's this?" Misa asked, poking at the gold-plated unicorn charm with her finger. It was a cheap thing, but she could tell it was important to her sister.

"Yuji's last gift to me," Hatsune said, smiling.

"Madoka's got a silver one kinda like that," Misa said. "'cept it's on a necklace." She had given it to her about a month ago, in fact.

Hatsune put the keychain in her pocket and sat in silence for a moment. "So do you have a picture of this girl that's got you so flustered you're thinking of leaving the family?" she asked teasingly. She was surprised to see Misa blush.

"Yeah..." Misa said, taking out her cell phone. She scanned through the pictures stored in it for a moment before passing it to Hatsune.

She took the phone from Misa and sat looking at the picture for a moment. The dark haired girl in the image looked a little surprised to be photographed, but held her hand out anyway, making a V with her fingers. Jeans, a band shirt over another shirt, a silver necklace and bracelet... She looked like a good, honest kid. 'I feel so old,' Hatsune thought to herself. She grinned crookedly and let out a little laugh, then passed the phone back to Misa.

"So she's that important to you, is she?" Misa refused to reply, and Hatsune's smile widened. "You're so shy about the weirdest things," she said. "So I take it there's more to this girl than meets the eye?"

"Yeah..." Misa said reluctantly.

"I would imagine so. For one thing, I have never seen this girl in any of the pictures you sent home."

"...she was always the one who took the pictures," Misa said, looking away.

"I also saw her nearly everywhere I went today," Hatsune said, watching Misa's face. She was amused to see the girl's sudden crooked smile.

"Yeah, she was probably worried," Misa said, her smile widening.

"So what is she? A fighter?"

"Something like that."

"Oh," she said, something in her tone causing Misa to stand up straight.

"You can't fight her, Hatsune," Misa said suddenly.

"Oh?"

"You can't. You've never fought someone like her."

Hatsune sat there for a moment. So Misa didn't think she could win, did she? She grinned. Now she wanted to face the girl even more! "I don't think it is something you have any control over at this point," she said.

"What? Why?" Misa asked, suddenly apprehensive.

"Her family name is Kugimiya, correct?"

"How did you know that?" Misa asked warily.

"I saw that name on the signup sheet for the tournament. I think...I think this will be interesting," she said, grinning toothily in the way anyone who knew her well knew meant that she was relishing the thought of a fight.

"Hatsune...!"

"Tell you what," Hatsune said, turning to Misa. "If I win, you have to go home and explain to Mother yourself. If this Madoka wins, I'll do it." She stood up and stretched. "Aaahhh...I think this might be fun!"


	9. Ch 7 Festival First Day pt 3 Day's End

**Still Waters 3, Chapter 30, The Festival First Day Part 3**

* * *

><p><em>Friday, June 26th, 2009, Afternoon<em>

* * *

><p>Taro followed along behind Kagami and her yakuza buddies, watching as they bantered back and forth. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side as she looked at them. Saga Jin, only a few inches taller than Kagami, had a youthful face and a sarcastic, teasing streak a mile wide. He seemed to enjoy nudging everyone around him close to the point of violence and then defusing the situation with a ridiculous joke at the perfect time. A natural clown. But something in his eyes bothered her; she didn't know what it was, but she had caught him looking at her several times and she didn't like it at all. There was something else going on, there. She knew that he must have done <em>something<em> to get his current position as head of his own yakuza operation, but the appearance he showed the world was that of a somewhat dense guy drifting through his twenties without a care in the world. He didn't fit the yakuza head stereotype at all...!

Kagami's brother, on the other hand...

Hiroaki was a serious minded man, interacting with his men with all the brevity of a seasoned veteran, and they followed his orders swiftly and to the letter. He was tall and, while thin, tended to cast about a feeling that he took up a lot of space, which you had _better not_ step into. And yet...to see him with Kagami, he seemed like a regular guy. Maybe a bit on the quiet side, but he seemed to be genuinely good natured and concerned about his little sister's safety when not ordering people to cut off their fingers for disappointing him, or whatever it was those yakuza types did; all she knew about the yakuza lifestyle was what she had seen on TV and what she could glean from punching various yakuza in the face until they passed out from it. Her frown deepened as she looked back and forth between the two yakuza bosses and Kagami, who treated both of them like childhood friends. What kind of screwed up life had Kagami had to think this sort of thing was _normal_? She sighed again.

"You know you're cheeks'll end up all puffed out when you get older if you keep doin' that, right?" Nobuo, the yakuza that had shown up with Saga Jin, said, puffing his cheeks out to show her. "Like a blowfish."

Taro just gave him a confused look as they walked.

"Don't mind Nobuo, he's an idiot," Akihiko, one of Hiroaki's men who had appeared quiet and dangerous up to that point, said to Taro in a stage whisper. Taro just looked at him, wide eyed. Was this what the whole yakuza thing was really like...?

"Hey, I heard that old man!"

"Old man? I'm only thirty eight!"

"Thirty eight? Whoa, you really _are_ a fossil!"

Taro staggered as she felt her world crashing down around her at the 'friendly' banter between the two yakuza, until the third one, a tall, strong-looking man Kagami had called Sousuke, reached out and took her arm to steady her. She looked up at him, feeling ashamed of herself as her eyes lingered on the horrible scarring across his throat, but he grinned crookedly and shook his head to show he didn't care. Taro walked alongside him for a moment while Nobuo and Akihiko traded punches in a good natured sort of way, and sighed again. What had she let Kagami get her into?

* * *

><p>"...you know, we weren't half bad," Kai said in wonder as she adjusted her beret and hefted the case containing Kara's Rickenbacker bass. Kara was currently fending off the new horde of fans that had popped up after their most recent performance; Kai had last seen her fleeing toward the bathrooms. Miyako had disappeared as well, for that matter.<p>

"Hehe~" Ayumi replied, surprisingly happy for someone who had been forced to carry half of a band's equipment. She shoved the last of their guitar cables into a bag with other miscellaneous items and zipped it up, then hefted it up and slung it up on her shoulder.

"Those cables are gonna tangle if you don't roll 'em properly, you know," Kai pointed out as Ayumi took one last look over their dressing room. The other bands that had been in here earlier were out now, waiting for their turn to play a few songs; Ayumi, apparently not even having heard her, quickly took out a piece of paper, scribbled her name, the band's name, and her cell phone number on it, and left it on a chair she pulled out and placed conspicuously in the middle of the floor. Kai held the door open for her, and Ayumi lifted her guitar case and skipped out, laughing.

Once outside and well on their way back to the dorm to drop off their equipment, Kai spoke up.

"You sure seem happy," she said, arching an eyebrow and barely able to repress the huge grin she felt constantly threatening. Playing the drums up on stage had been a _lot_ of fun, totally different from the way it felt to play without an audience; she couldn't wait to do it again.

"Heh, I saw Misa-sama in the crowd! I wonder what she thought of my playing?" Ayumi said, shifting her bags and guitar case around until she could reach the cell phone in her pocket, which she pulled out and flipped open to check for missed calls.

"Really? That's a surprise," Kai said as she paused long enough for Ayumi to sigh dejectedly at the lack of calls from 'Misa-sama'. Honestly, she hadn't expected Misa or Madoka or any of the others to remember them at all; after all, the No Name Band as a group had only run into them once, at the Battle of the Bands back in May. But for Kakizaki Misa, the leader of Dekopin Rocket, to personally come and see their show...

"...that's actually really, really cool," she said after a moment.

"I know, right?" Ayumi chirped, stopping to check her cell phone again. The look of dejection that flashed across her face was enough to let Kai know that Ayumi's hero Misa-sama had failed to call or text her with the expected praise of their efforts at the show yet again.

Kai smiled crookedly and continued on, forcing Ayumi to catch up in a sort of clumpy jog, weighed down as they both were with the band's equipment. Kai was just glad someone there had been willing to let her borrow their drum set; dragging one of _those_ across campus would have been a nightmare. She knew Ayumi was starting to become confused as to why Misa hadn't called her yet, but Kai knew the woman was probably just busy; she was famous after all. She would have told Ayumi to give it some time, but she had known the other girl too long to make _that_ mistake; she had no wish to have Ayumi dump her share of the equipment and stomp away in a huff. At least, not before they got to the dorms, anyway.

The two continued on.

* * *

><p>Ayaka and Ku Fei walked side by side toward the entrance to the Tatsumiya Shrine, where the tournament preliminaries were to be held the next day, as per tradition, via battle royale.<p>

"Hey look, it's Ku Fei! I can't believe it!" someone said excitedly as they passed.

"Is she gonna enter? There's no way anyone but her could win...!" someone else said.

Ayaka looked down at the shorter girl and was amused to see the bright grin on her face. "Are you sure you don't want to enter this year?"

Ku Fei shook her head. "No, I shouldn't," she said as she put on a fake beard and produced a walking stick from nowhere. "It's time to let the younger generation have their turn, oh ho ho."

Ayaka smirked and scanned the crowd.

The area traditionally used for the annual martial arts tournament had changed little since the last time Ayaka had seen it. The spectator facilities had been improved, but the fighting area was just as she remembered it; the wide pool of shallow water was as it had been the last time she was here, though the large wooden platforms placed symmetrically throughout had obviously been rebuilt.

"Ooh, there is Kaede," Ku Fei said, nudging Ayaka with her elbow to get her attention. Ayaka had to look through the crowd for a moment to spot her.

"The twins, too," Ayaka said as she shaded her eyes from the glare of the sun off the water. It was a nice day; warm, not a cloud in the sky. The crowd was getting pretty big now...she recognized several of her old classmates and quite a few other faces as well, though she couldn't put a name to more than a quarter of them. As usual, the regulars were milling around here and there; she could see the group that Gotokuji guy that kept getting dragged into their business always hung out with, though he was conspicuously absent. Apparently they couldn't find it in themselves to move from the city...it was a feeling she understood well. Something about this place drew you to it, no matter how far you went. Her attention drifted from face to face before finally resting on an awkward looking young woman who stood alone wearing a colorful mask that covered her whole head, looking at the fighting stages. Something about the way she was standing was familiar, but Ayaka brushed it off as her gaze swept past to a huge red headed man who looked to be almost seven feet tall. He would have stood out in any other crowd but this, Ayaka thought wryly as she scanned through her potential opponents, men and women of all shapes and sizes. How many were here for the fighting, and how many were here to watch, like Ku Fei? She didn't know; but if even a handful of these people were going to enter the tournament, she might find it more fun than she had first thought...

"Isn't that girl from Negi's class?" Ku Fei asked suddenly.

Ayaka looked where Ku Fei was pointing and frowned. "That's his class representative," she said thoughtfully. "Haven't you met her yet? She's always training in the resort."

Ku Fei shook her head. "No. I've seen her, but never spoke to her. Is she joining? Asuna told me she was good."

"Hmm..."

* * *

><p>Sachiko walked along over the noisy and crowded tournament grounds, deep in thought. This past month had been...unpleasant. In more ways than one. Initially, she had been utterly thrilled at the prospect of magic being real; unfortunately, she herself could barely do anything with it. Almost a full month's extensive training and practice with nothing to show for it but a weak light spell that fizzled out after a few seconds told her that. Even <em>Urashima Taro<em> of all people could do better than that...!

'It is rude to think of Taro-san that way,' she told herself reproachfully as she looked at the nearest fighting stage. There was no point in being petty. Pettiness led to worse things, and she wouldn't be able to look at herself in a mirror if she let that get the best of her again. 'I'm just not trying hard enough, that's all,' she thought to herself. It was just like when she was younger and didn't understand English. It was just a matter of trying hard; and if that didn't work, the answer was to just try harder. But in the mean time...

She looked at the fighting stage again, carefully mapping out its dimensions and the texture of the floor. She could almost _see_ how it would go against some of the others currently wandering around...that big man with the red hair and muscles would be deceptively quick; defeating him would be a matter of getting in a killing hit before he realized he had lost the element of surprise. He would be quick, yes, but not quick enough, not to defeat Sachiko. The masked girl standing by herself would be quick too. Whether the luchadore mask she wore hinted at her fighting style or was simply there to hide her face was something Sachiko couldn't tell, but her musculature and balance indicated someone who was perfectly capable of the acrobatics traditionally associated with that particular style. Sachiko cocked her head to the side as she looked at the girl. Something about her was familiar...

"Hello, Nakamura-san."

Sachiko stiffened slightly, disappointed in herself for letting someone sneak up on her, and turned around to see two of the women who often visited Eva's resort when she was there for training. The tall blonde woman was strikingly pretty, made to seem even moreso by the short dark skinned Chinese girl standing next to her. She quickly regained her composure and bobbed her head toward them.

"Hello. I am afraid I didn't get your name the last time...?"

"Yukihiro Ayaka," Ayaka said, then gestured to the woman standing beside her. "And this is my friend Ku Fei."

"Pleased to meet you," Sachiko said humbly as she bowed to the Chinese Girl.

"So you're Negi-bouzu's class rep, hmm?" Ku Fei said, giving the girl a measuring look.

Sachiko spotted something in that look that set off warning bells in her head, and Ku Fei's cheerful grin widened.

"I want to fight you some time," Ku Fei said abruptly. Several people nearby dropped what they were doing and began edging closer as they pretended to not be eavesdropping while the two women and the girl looked at each other.

Ayaka smiled prettily and shook her head after a moment. "This isn't the time, Ku Fei. Well, it was nice to meet you, Nakamura-san," she said, repressing her own urge to challenge the girl.

"The pleasure was all mine," Sachiko said smoothly. She watched them walk away for a moment, then turned back to the fighting stage without really seeing it. She could see several ways to defeat Yukihiro-san, though it would be a tough fight each time. But this Ku Fei woman...she frowned as she took everything into account and realized that she couldn't do it. For the first time in _years_, she couldn't do it. She could even find a way of beating Asuna-sensei in a fight if she was quick enough, but this Ku Fei...what _was_ she?

* * *

><p>"So he was all beggin' for mercy with snot runnin' out his nose, so I let him have it!" the young man from the Hinata district said.<p>

"What, mercy?" one of the others in the small group standing around the story teller said sarcastically.

"Naw, man! I let him _have it_!" the first man said, patting the pocket that bulged with what looked like a gun but was actually just a toy.

His buddy rolled his eyes at the story, one that the first guy told every time he got a chance. The others didn't know it, but the one who had been begging for mercy was the one telling the story, and the one who had beat him up had been a girl with shocking strength; one punch had sent him flying a block and a half and laid him up in the hospital for a few weeks, and it was only through amazingly good luck that he himself hadn't shared the same fate. Man, that Narusegawa woman was _terrifying..._ He glanced out at the street through the mouth of the alley, watching the women walking by, when he saw something that really got his blood pumping. He grinned.

"Hey, Katsuo."

"Huh? Somethin' wrong?" his buddy said, still basking in the acclaim his story had given him.

"C'mere a minute, check _that_ out!" the second guy said, gesturing out at the street. Katsuo walked out to the mouth of the alley and looked out at the street, immediately spotting what his buddy had been talking about.

"Ho-lee shit!" he said gleefully, turning to smirk back at the locals he had been regaling with stories of his amazing prowess with both guns and women. "Check _that_ out! Niiiice!"

Everyone crowded around the end of the alley to see, but their only response was a collective sigh of disappointment.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Katsuo's friend said. He took another look. Sure, her shirt wasn't tight enough, her stomach wasn't showing at all, and she wasn't wearing short shorts, but what he was seeing was real first rate stuff...! What was wrong with these guys?

"That's just Taro-kun," one of the local thugs said. The others nodded in commiseration as each recalled their own run-ins with the girl in question.

"Taro-kun...th-th-_that_ is a _GUY_?" Katsuo said.

The locals looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"No way! Taro-kun's _definitely _a girl, she's just got a guy's name. She'll just kick your ass from here to next Tuesday if you try anything, is all."

Katsuo and his friend looked at each other.

"No way."

"C'mon, quit hoggin' it, I want some'a'dat~" Katsuo said as he went for another look.

"Your funeral," one of the locals called out after him, shrugging and shaking his head as if to say he had tried.

* * *

><p>Taro was walking along idly, trailing quite far behind Kagami and her yakuza friends by this point, when a guy stepped out of an alley in front of her and leaned against the side of the building in an exaggerated, thuggish slouch.<p>

Taro stepped around him and continued on.

The man walked swiftly past her and slouched against the next building as well, smirking at her as he tugged down his sunglasses just enough to show his eyes over them as he looked her up and down.

Taro clenched her teeth and walked past.

The man did it again, this time making a suggestive motion with his pelvis.

Again Taro walked past, clenching her fists and glaring holes into anything that crossed her path. Was he trying to...to _flirt_ with her? Whatever it was, that was _not_ the way to do it...!

The fourth time, the man stuck out his arm at around the level of her chest, forcing her to either stop walking or get groped.

Taro stopped walking, turned her head stiffly to look the annoying idiot in the eye, and spat one word: "_What_?"

The idiot looked a little confused by her harsh tone, but rallied himself and soldiered on. "Hey baby, I'm new in town and-"

"Why don't you ask that guy," Taro said, pointing at a random passerby as she started to move away.

The idiot moved to stand in front of her again, putting his hands on his hips and standing up as straight as he could, probably in an attempt to intimidate her; Taro had seen better displays by children in the park. She started to step around him again when he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall. A woman nearby let out a startled gasp and ran away while several passersby muttered something under their breath and took cover.

"Now you listen here, girly girl, you gotta show me _respect_ when I'm talkin' to ya, ya know? Now-"

"And who would you be?" Taro asked softly, interrupting him.

Something in the girl's voice bothered Katsuo, but he set that aside and continued his attempt at seduction. "I'm Taniguchi Katsuo, samurai of love, and I run Hinata city! Now c'mon, why don't you show me around, buy me lunch, an' I might even let you take me back ta your place. Whaddaya say?"

The girl was glaring at him, but more than that, something was wrong. The air had taken on a silent, expectant feeling, and he took a moment to look around. The crowd had thinned, but those that remained were standing well back, just watching. He looked around for his buddy, but he was standing far, far back, waving his hands frantically and shaking his head. What was _that_ all about?

"Huh..." Oh well, probably nothing important.

Katsuo turned his attention back to the girl and smirked his best smirk. "Now how about it? Wanna let me teach you how to lo-"

The girl sighed.

The next thing Katsuo knew, he was flying through the air with with the side of his face exploding in pain. Where had he felt this sensation before...?

"_Pervert!" a beautiful woman yelled as she reared back to throw a punch, the dorky guy with the glasses who was standing well back sighing resignedly, sharing a look of commiseration with Katsuo, who was about to take his first trip via Naru Air._

'Oh yeah, that Narusegawa woman," Katsuo thought. Then he hit the streetlight to a chorus of cringing "Ooh"s and a very loud _clang_.

Taro sighed and rubbed her forehead, ignoring the semi-conscious idiot wrapped around the light pole across the street.

"What was _that_?" Kagami asked as she trotted up, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at her. "I noticed you disappeared, and then there's a guy flying through the air..."

"Just another idiot," Taro said as she stalked away from the scene through Kagami's yakuza buddies. "I've gotta go to the club exhibition," she grumbled.

Saga Jin and Hiroaki glanced at each other, each cocking an eyebrow, then at Kagami, who heaved a much-put-upon sigh and followed Taro. "Come on, we should stick together," she said, not even bothering to look back at them.

Jin and Hiroaki fell into place behind Kagami, and the others followed a respectful distance behind them.

"You know," Jin said after a moment. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say _she_ was the one wearing the pants in this little-"

"Shut up."

"-family. I mean what with that little display, it's almost like-"

"Damn you," Hiroaki said.

"-she's the one in charge, huh?" Jin said, grinning hugely as he elbowed Hiroaki.

"Shut up, dammit."

"But man, that Taro chick's pretty good. I mean, I thought she was good looking before, yeah, but after I saw _that_...!" Jin gushed.

"Damn dirty masochist."

"Heh."

* * *

><p>"What do you <em>mean<em> I can't participate?" Taro demanded of the club adviser, utterly shocked by the sudden decision.

The shorter woman just looked at her over her glasses, clearly unimpressed. She had been dealing with people like Taro for a long, long time. "Honestly? Because you'll scare away the newbies. Come on, Taro-kun. You should know this. You _still _don't know how to reign in your strength properly; remember the incident with the 'friendly' inter-school spar session with my old club at the boys' middle school a few weeks back?"

Taro had the good grace to look abashed as she turned her head away. She remembered that incident clearly: that one boy who fought like a pro wrestler had gotten her frustrated because of his ability to slip out of harm's way at the last moment, look more hurt than he actually was before jumping up and attacking you behind your back, and his constant showboating. So she broke the rules and sent him flying halfway across the gym. His club had rushed her, and hers had followed suit to defend her; it had been a lot of fun, actually. And judging by the club adviser's lopsided grin, she had enjoyed having to split up the fight, too. She shuddered as she recalled just _why _the short, friendly looking woman standing in front of her was deemed fit to run the wildest club on campus. Taro had sent many people flying through the air over the years, but that had been the first time _she _had ever been on the receiving end of such a trip. She shuddered again and sighed. "Yes, Sawyer-sensei."

"Well..." the woman said, still smirking lightly at her in a friendly sort of way, "tell you what; if you think you can keep yourself under control, you can stand around and watch."

Taro thought about it for a moment and had just glanced back at the sizable group of yakuza standing around and scaring off everyone but the locals when a soft, pleasant voice intruded that, though it sounded quite friendly, somehow sent chills up and down her spine.

"Kagami-chan, _there _you are!" Taro turned to see what sort of monster had just arrived and spotted one of her classmates instead, a quiet girl whose name was, if she recalled correctly, Yoshida Ume. They had never spoken or even really interacted at all before now, so she stepped aside to let Kagami handle the situation.

Kagami, for her part, froze up upon hearing her fellow Cooking Club member's voice. "Er...hello! Fancy meeting you here!" she said in a false show of pleasant surprise as she turned around to face the girl.

"Now Kagami-chan, you know it's not a good thing to do to just ignore your club duties and leave us short handed, right?" Ume said, that odd, extremely disturbing faux-pleasantness dripping from every word.

"Er...but that is...um..."

Kagami turned back to the others pleading for help with her expression. The yakuza looked at each other, and Saga Jin shrugged and stepped forward. He strutted up to the young girl, made a big show of looking her over and dismissing her as uninteresting, and spoke. "What, did you lose your mommy? Get outta here kid, the adults are talking." He took Kagami's wrist and turned away, dismissing the girl and giving Kagami an out in the same move. "C'mon Kagami, we've got places to...be..." He trailed off as a cold chill raced down his back, and judging from the way Kagami's hand suddenly tightened around his, she felt the same thing.

He glanced back to see what was giving him this intense feeling of doom, and paused when he caught Ume's gaze.

The first thought that went through his head was something along the lines of 'There's someone I can follow!', but the second was more like 'This is someone I do _not_ want to mess with...!' She didn't look like much, true; she was just another middle school girl at first glance. But now...

"You _must_ come with me now, Kagami-chan," Ume said, something in her voice cutting right through Jin's composure.

'Come on, I'm a man, aren't I? A real yakuza badass! I can't let some little girl shake me like this...!' he thought to himself as he gathered his willpower, straightened his back, put on his best 'Don't you know I could have you squashed like a bug?' expression, and opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't you know who I am? Don't you know I could-" His voice cut off.

She was _looking_ at him. With her _eyes_. It was as if her gaze held the power of a thousand disapproving mothers, compressed to a razor's edge and honed molecule thin. He looked back at that fearsome image, gathered what little pride and personal sense of manhood was left to him...and let go of Kagami's hand.

The disapproval left her expression and Ume turned her attention back to Kagami, smiling gently as if she hadn't just beaten a hardened yakuza gunslinger in a battle of wills. "Come along now, Kagami-chan, we have work to do~"

"Y-yeah..." Kagami said, trailing off as Ume tugged her away.

Jin walked stiffly back to the others, no one wanting to meet each others' eyes.

"Ah..."

"Yeah..."

"H-heh heh," Nobuo managed. "Th-that was weapons-grade stuff, man," he said, his voice wavery as he felt an inexplicable sense of shame.

Akihiko nodded, his face extremely pale, his eyes wide and unseeing.

"Thanks for throwing me to the wolves, guys," Jin managed after a long, long moment.

Kagami's big brother Hiroaki, looking quite pale himself, finally spoke. "I'm sorry, man. We didn't know."

Jin shook his head to clear it. "Are you saying you would've gone instead if you did?"

Hiroaki, the man who had taken control of a major yakuza family at the age of fifteen and saved it from the brink of annihilation, shuddered. "No. Not only no, but _hell no_. Didn't you _see_ that?" he said, pointing at the retreating backs of Ume and Kagami. Ume chose that moment to glance back, and the group of hardened criminals shuddered as her disapproval lanced through them like a hot knife through butter.

"Thanks man, it really means a lot," Jin said dryly when the schoolgirl had turned away again.

"Any time."

* * *

><p>Asuna and Chizuru walked along side by side on their assigned security patrol, drawing stares from both men and women.<p>

"So..." Asuna said after a moment.

"Yes?" Chizuru said pleasantly.

Asuna sent a quick glare at a guy who was staring at Chizuru to make him look away; it was a kindness, really. If she scared him off before he tried anything, the guy wouldn't have to deal with an angry Kotarou, much less an angry Chizuru. "How're the missions for the association going? You're in and out of Mahora so often you're back and off again before I know you're even gone."

Chizuru walked along a moment in silence. "...to be honest, I think something is going on."

"That's awfully vague. What do you mean?" Asuna asked.

Chizuru was silent for a long, long moment; so long, in fact, that Asuna glanced over at her to make sure she was all right. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but it looks like someone has tried to infiltrate the governments of several countries. Japan is safe of course," she added quickly. "But the governments of some other countries that don't have our resources may have been compromised. It's..." she trailed off, a troubled look marring her pretty face.

"Frustrating?" Asuna asked, a little surprised to see her friend and old classmate so troubled. They had known each other and worked together for years, and while they weren't as close as she and Konoka or Ayaka were, she still considered Chizuru a good friend. But rarely had the other woman ever made such an expression.

"Yes. We have made offers to the magic associations in some of those places, but..." Chizuru heaved a sigh and shook her head.

Asuna nodded. She too had dealt with foreign magic associations many times; they were always reluctant to accept outside help and were often excessively stubborn as well. But then again, she had to admit that she would feel pretty offended herself if some outside group tried to meddle in Shinmeiryu affairs. They walked along in silence for a long way before Chizuru spoke up again.

"There are also rumors of a demon."

_That_ brought Asuna up short. "What? Where?" Demons were strictly prohibited from coming to Earth, had always been. Mundus Magicus was as far as they were allowed to go; it had been that way since pretty much forever. If a demon had broken the laws to come to Earth, it had to be dealt with immediately.

"No one seems to know," Chizuru answered. "He is always gone long before anyone realizes what he is; he is very good at hiding. Or very lucky." Asuna knew that meant a lot, coming from Chizuru. Chizuru didn't believe in luck, mostly because she was one of those poor souls who had never had much of it, good _or_ bad. Asuna, however, knew better.

"A demon...that's pretty dangerous," Asuna said. Something would have to be done about it, but it wasn't her problem at the moment, not unless it came to Mahora.

The two continued walking.

* * *

><p>Ayumi pulled out her cell phone again, but her hero Kakizaki Misa <em>still<em> hadn't called. Was something wrong? Had she offended her somehow? Ayumi quickly ran through the day again, picking at the details and trying to figure out what she must have done to make Misa-sama mad at her, but nothing came to mind. The only time she had even _seen_ Misa-sama was at the show, when Ayumi's band took the stage...

"Ayumi, put that away! They're about to announce the Fan Favorite!" Kai whispered harshly as she jabbed Ayumi in the side with her elbow. Ayumi scowled at her, but put her cell phone in her pocket and looked around the backstage area again. It appeared that almost every band that had played during the day had gathered here again, just in case they won some sort of award. Granted, the bands that were assigned to play on the first day were all amateurs, but the coveted title of 'Fan Favorite' was something each wished to gain. The announcers had already run through the individual awards, as could be seen by the small honorable mention bass player trophy Kara kept looking at with a stunned expression, as well as the Second Place Vocalist trophy Miyako hadn't let go of since it was handed to her. Ayumi scowled at no one in particular; she had been edged out of placing as a guitarist, and had been forced to settle with an honorable mention trophy of her own. Kai, sadly, hadn't received any awards for her drumming, mostly because she was steady and stable and pretty much refused to showboat, even though she could go on drumming for hours if necessary; Kai always outlasted the rest of them in practice, a fact which often annoyed Ayumi.

"And second place for Fan Favorite goes to...After School Tea Time!" the announcer said up on stage to massive applause from the audience. Ayumi rolled her eyes as the group in question squealed and rushed up the stairs to the stage, making 'V' signs with their fingers as they ran out.

"Come on come on," Ayumi said impatiently, tapping her foot. She wanted to get back to the dorm and try to get some sleep. Fan Favorite was a nice dream, but...she didn't think it'd be likely to happen. If Misa-sama was so ashamed of knowing her that she didn't even call... 'Oh who am I kidding? I wanna know who won...!'

"And now, the one you've all been waiting for," the announcer said, drawing it out and making a big show for the audience. "The band you, the people, have chosen as your favorite on this, the first day of the festival, is..."

"Oh come on, say it already!" a nervous girl standing nearby said. Someone immediately shushed her, but Ayumi knew exactly what that girl was feeling.

"Golly, isn't this exciting?" the announcer said, drawing laughter and groans from the crowd.

"Come on, say it already!" Ayumi bellowed backstage, clearly heard by the audience, which broke into more laughter.

The announcer laughed as well and brought the microphone up to speak. "Wow, getting impatient, aren't we? Anyway," he said, finally getting down to business. "The winner of Day One's Fan Favorite is...The No Name Band! Congratulations girls, come on out!"

Ayumi's mind went blank. "...huh?" She turned to look at Kara, saw the same wide-eyed, unbelieving expression on her face, then Miyako squealed and Kai was grabbing her hand and dragging her toward the stairs, a huge grin on her face. Almost before she knew it, Ayumi was standing out on the stage , half blinded by the lights as she looked out over the audience, an enormous shifting mass made up of little dots of color.

"...huh?"

Kara bumped into her and their hands clasped together instinctively. Ayumi was dimly aware of Kai taking her other hand.

"Huh?"

The announcer turned to her and smiled in the manner of all professional announcers everywhere who have just spent an hour handing out awards under the heat of massive lights outdoors in the humid early summer heat. "Congratulations! Take a bow!" He turned to the audience. "And with that, the awards ceremony is over. Thanks for watching, and thanks for voting!"

The next thirty minutes passed by in a blur for Ayumi. They were hustled off the stage and into an office in the back somewhere where they talked to several adults about things Ayumi couldn't recall even five minutes later, went from there through the back exit where quite a small horde of fans had gathered. Ayumi was dimly aware of posing to take a few pictures before getting hustled on along with several other bands by a bunch of big guys in suits, and after a moment found herself getting into the back of a van, along with the rest of her band and the band that had won second place Fan Favorite. She was sure they must have talked, but by the time the No Name Band had been dropped off at the dorm and safely seen inside, any memory of what they had actually _said_ was long gone. It wasn't until Ayumi was safely in bed that she realized something troubling.

This may have been the most important night of her life, but...Misa-sama wasn't there. She hadn't seen Misa-sama a single time, hadn't received a single call, hadn't even received a congratulatory text message. Was Misa-sama mad at her? Did...did Misa-sama...not even care...?

She frantically shook her head to clear it and tugged the blanket up to hide her face.

It couldn't be that...could it?

* * *

><p>"Hello, Yuuna."<p>

Yuuna was jolted out of her brown study by the voice of another long time member of Negi's group of friends.

"Heya Reiko. How ya holding up?" she asked, pasting on the fake smile she had worn around everyone else since the kidnapping of her first ever student, Possum Cade, at the hands of the vampire Jonus Hart, who had caused such a ruckus not so long ago.

"I could ask you the same thing," Reiko said seriously.

Her fake smile slipped a little and finally fell as Reiko looked at her, and Yuuna sighed. "My answer would be 'not well'," she said as she slumped back into a more comfortable position on the stone bench she had been sitting on since just after sunset. The area the two of them were in was deserted, though they could clearly hear the massive party that marked the end of the first day of the festival through the trees.

"Possum?" Reiko asked.

"Possum," Yuuna replied, nodding once. Reiko sat down beside her, lowering herself gently to the bench with a grimace; Reiko, never a truly healthy girl, had been gravely injured by a ghoul some time back, and had barely survived the experience. Even now she often had trouble catching her breath, and could often be found leaning against buildings out in the city, exhausted even by a simple walk to the corner store; it was beginning to look like she might never recover at all.

"There wasn't anything you could have done," Reiko said distantly as she looked around at the nearby trees for lack of anything better to do.

Yuuna grimaced. "I know; doesn't mean it sucks any less though. It's like he just grabbed her off the street or something-"

"It was in an alley," Reiko said.

Yuuna looked up. "...how do you know that?"

Reiko looked away, a look of exaggerated innocence pasted on her face. "Negi-sensei was there." Yuuna had just looked back down at the ground when Reiko saw fit to add "I didn't find out from him, though."

Yuuna's hands became tight fists in an instant and she bared her teeth without realizing she was even doing it as a wave of fury rolled over her, only repressed by an immense mental effort on her part before she felt she could trust herself to look at Reiko. "This had better not be one of your games, Reiko," she said, her tone dead serious for once.

Reiko smiled slightly on seeing her friend's reaction. "It's not. I've got him."

"You've got him."

Reiko nodded, her smile widening. "I've got him." Yuuna stood up, so she heaved herself up off the bench as well, using the cane Negi had given her to pull herself up.

"Where is he?" Yuuna asked.

Reiko cocked her head to the side and gave the older woman a good long look. "You have to swear you won't kill him."

Yuuna bit off the profanity she almost blurted out at that and gave Reiko another long, hard look. "Are you sure you aren't just messing with me? Because if you are, I'm going to be _really _pissed off."

Reiko's grin widened into a full-on toothy smile. "I'm serious. I've got him bound with seals, there's no way he can escape. And even if he does manage it, I have ways of controlling him," she said, thinking back to the bottle she had imprisoned his soul in.

"I want to see him."

Reiko nodded, smiling crookedly. "Okay."


	10. Ch 8 Festival Second Day pt 1 Qualifying

**Still Waters 3 Book 2, Chapter 8, The Festival Second Day Part 1, Tournament Qualifying**

* * *

><p><em>Saturday, June 27th, Morning<em>

* * *

><p>The sound of a pipe striking flesh filled every corner of the room, blending with the pained grunt that followed immediately after.<p>

"So, how's that for an introduction, mister vampire?"

"I would have expected better from a street-" The voice was cut off by the sound of another strike.

Reiko stood well back in the soft glow of the activated seals that papered the walls of the small room, just watching.

"Do you know who I am?" Yuuna asked, propping the pipe up on her shoulder while she waited for the Great Vampire Lord Jonus Hart to collect himself.

He glared at her, his arms bound by the straightjacket and thick layer of paper seals that covered him from neck to ankles, and remained silent.

Yuuna, however, ignored his glare, returning it with a wide, unpleasant grin of her own. "The name's Akashi Yuuna, The Morning Star Of The West! I'm the one who wiped out the necromancer that just about took over the Ukraine! I'm the one who stopped that mage from blowing up the parliament building in the U.K. last year! I once beat _NEGI FREAKING SPRINGFIELD_ in a straight up fight. Sound familiar?"

Jonus just glared back at her, so she hit him with the pipe again.

"Damn it girl, _stop that_!" he bellowed after he had spit out a tooth.

"Don't whine," Yuuna said. "You're a vampire, this pipe won't do any _real _damage; you'll be perfectly fine. Besides, you're lucky. Do you know why?" She waited a moment while he glared at her in silence. "Guess not," she said, grinning. "See, you're lucky 'cuz Reiko came to _me._ If she had gone to, oh, Negi-kun, or Max-sensei, or even Asuna, you'd probly be dead now. But me? Nah. Not my style. If I just kill you, I won't be able to get a good fight out of you later," she said, pacing around and gesturing with the pipe. "Yeah, Negi'd just blow you up, Max-sensei'd just incinerate you, and Asuna'd just cut you up. But me? Nah. I'll just beat you half unconscious during the interrogation!" she said cheerfully.

Jonus just looked at her. "You are insane."

Yuuna shrugged. "Maybe. Then again, maybe you kidnapped my only student, hid her somewhere, maybe killed her, and maybe I'm just barely able to hold myself back from tearing you to shreds with my bare hands at this very moment." She smiled absently at the vampire and waited a moment for him to digest that. The expression of sudden understanding on his face, however, was completely unexpected.

"What's with that look?" Reiko asked softly as she stood up from the wall and took a few steps forward, supported by her cane. Yuuna stepped aside to make room for her. "You didn't look like that when I was interrogating you earlier."

Jonus raised an eyebrow as he looked at Reiko. "That is because you, ignorant little girl, have nothing to do with...with _her_," he said, referring to Possum Cade, the missing girl in question. "This 'Akashi Yuuna', however, deserves an answer," he said, turning to Yuuna. "Before you say anything else," he said, interrupting Yuuna before she could get a word out, "I must say I am sorry for your student. I, too, have had...incidents...with those placed in my care. Sometimes the student survived the experience, but from time to time one did not." He paused for a moment, giving a long, measuring look at Yuuna.

He started talking.

* * *

><p>Yuuna stepped through the door into the larger outer storeroom hidden deep within a long unused portion of Mahora's drainage system, holding it open for Reiko as she hobbled out, waited while Reiko shut and locked it, and when the door was secured and the vampire could no longer see her she collapsed against the wall, sobbing in relief. Possum was alive...! And not only that, but she was still here, in Mahora!<p>

"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," Reiko said distantly as she focused absently at a spot on the floor. "We don't know her condition or if she's become some sort of monster. We don't know anything at all..."

Yuuna shook her head as she stood up, wiping her eyes. "It doesn't matter. I don't care if she's turned into Dracula or what, she's still Possum, she's still my student, the first one they let me train." Reiko watched in silence as Yuuna pulled herself together and stood up straighter than before, some of her old fire returning to her eyes for the first time since Possum's disappearance. She grinned at Reiko, clapped her on the shoulder hard enough to make her stagger, and started toward the exit. "Come on Reiko, let's talk to Negi and figure out what to do."

* * *

><p>Jonus, with his enhanced senses, heard every word that was said in the other room, and wished with all his heart that Akashi Yuuna would be able to weather whatever was to come. Few of those who taught others had the sort of connection she seemed to have with her student, few were willing to risk their lives to help them. Jonus himself had been in similar situations in the past, but...whatever was to come for the girl he had kidnapped, it would not be easy, not for anyone involved. And if the girl, Possum, were to turn...The worst years of Jonus' vampire life had been the first few decades. Almost mad with the thirst for blood, most new vampires became mindless, bloodthirsty monsters, the sort that killed indiscriminately until they were hunted down and killed. It was a rare soul that could survive that onslaught, and he had brought it upon the girl himself, by letting his thirst for her amazingly potent blood go to his head. He knew he would have to take responsibility for what he had done to her; he wouldn't have it any other way. In all his years, he had only created four other vampires, all in his first century of life, those heady days of wild hedonism and bloody violence before he had gained full control of his power. He knew the horror of it, the thirst for blood, the way the merest hint of sunlight burned one's flesh, the way it felt to watch your loved ones wither and die through the years until everyone you had ever known or loved was dead...he wouldn't wish that upon any being, so he had been careful. Up to now, he hadn't made a mistake. Up to now, he hadn't let himself go. He uttered a fervent prayer to whatever deity may have been watching that the girl's death would be quick and without suffering.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hun, do you really think it's a good idea for him to go out on his own? I mean this is a strange city-"<p>

"Listen, Nevon is certainly old enough to go out on his own from time to time. And besides, maybe it would do him some good. He has to find out about those humans _some_ time, and what better place than here? So long as he doesn't cause any problems before the coming of age ceremony, everything should be fine. Besides, some of his friends are here as well."

"But hun..."

"No buts. If the family listened to your objections, we would never have come out to support Masashi. Nevon is certainly capable of taking care of himself. He is the biggest of the boys back home, and he can beat the rest with ease. Now this is the last I want to hear of this-"

Nevon Bayle waited in the front section of the hotel room while his parents argued in the back, apparently unaware that he could hear every word they said through the flimsy walls. He sneered upon hearing his mother's constant objections; she was too soft. So what if they were in a strange city? He could take care of himself! He had proven that with that human thief back in Mundus Magicus, hadn't he? He was a member of the Gold Fox tribe! He was a distant cousin of O Masashi, who was planning on officially announcing his intentions to become the new Youkai King during the Youkai Festival, two days from now!

"I can take care of myself," he grumbled to the empty room. Masashi was so cool, just what a youkai with his heritage should be, Nevon thought. He was a member of the Gold Fox tribe, the tribe that had supplied a good quarter of the previous Youkai Kings, far more than any other tribe. So what if the last one from the Gold Fox tribe all those years ago, Masashi's grandfather, had been a psycho? Masashi wasn't! He was smart, he was cool, he could beat anyone in a fight, he was everything Nevon wanted to be after his (sadly delayed) coming of age ceremony. Truthfully, he should have had his coming of age ceremony nine years ago, but his father simply _insisted_ on waiting until the big festival on Earth that occurred every ten years rather than go to any of the smaller, yearly festivals back in Mundus Magicus. Nevon had been quite embarrassed to be forced to wait so long; stupid kids years younger than he was had already become adults, but he wouldn't have to wait much longer to finally take his place. And besides, he thought, relatively few could claim the honor of having their coming of age ceremony take place at the main festival, under the eyes of the future Youkai King.

Nevon paused at the thought and leaned back comfortably against the door jamb. His gaze wandered off into the distance as he contemplated what the coming of age ceremony would mean for him, personally. First and most obvious, it would mean he was an adult. His name would be stricken from the ranks of children and written among the names of the mature adults. His power would be tested and his level recorded. He could marry. He would be free to join any of the guardian groups he wished, no matter what his mother said. He could join the coming fight against the humans, the oni, and the elves, the fight Masashi had foretold. He could... Nevon paused again, a giddy smile creeping over his face at the far and distant dream he had held closely in his heart these last ten years, seemingly so far beyond his reach. He could join up and be one of Masashi's personal bodyguards...! He had long had his eye on a few different girls, and none of them would deny him if he held such a post! The thought almost made him giddy. Not only would he be able to be around someone as awesome as Masashi all day long every day, but he would have the girl of his dreams too! It was almost too much to comprehend, and it would all start in two days! He felt himself grin even wider, and suddenly the small hotel room seemed too close, too untidy. He opened the door and slipped out while his parents' argument grew even more heated.

"This is gonna be _great_!" he thought aloud as he all but skipped down the hallway.

* * *

><p>Kai was more than a little nervous as she stepped out of the dorm, peering around to see if anyone unfamiliar was nearby.<p>

As the only oni in Negi's class, she was in an unusual position. Sure, she had friends; her bandmates in the No Name Band, Ayumi, Miyako, and Kara, but they had no idea of her true nature, weren't even aware of the existence of such things as oni or magic, at least as far as Kai could tell. She also had the group she trained with in Eva's resort twice a week: Abe Aiko, a powerful onmyodo mystic, Aiko's friend Yamamoto Kimi, who was surprisingly good with a sword, Mako Sylvester, a girl who could read minds through touch and seemed able to do little else, and Sato Gin, a creepy girl who could curse physical changes into things. She liked to think of them as friends, but she couldn't help but wonder if they saw her the same way. If she needed help, who could she turn to? Negi-sensei was strong, but he was too cute; she turned into a gibbering mess any time she had his full attention. Eva was strong, but she barely knew her; besides, Eva was scary. Max-sensei? Maybe...but he was pretty scary too, and she couldn't figure him out at all, even though he was the one training her group.

She walked down the steps in front of the dorm and paused again; she could sense _them_. Youkai. She didn't like youkai much; they were scary. Her classmates Miyoshi Youko and Endo Haru were youkai, or youkai-ish, anyway, but she stayed away from them. Youkai didn't like her kind; they never had. She didn't know any details, but the two races had been at war for thousands of years, each dealing terrible blows to the other until the population numbers of both groups had dropped to extremely low levels. Then the humans had come in, battered the survivors into submission, and now ruled just about everything. Some humans, including the Abe family of Kyoto, had even worked out how to magically enslave the oni, and that thought alone was terrifying. The youkai hadn't fared much better, but at the very least they still had their freedom.

And now, Kai saw, for some reason a _lot_ of them had shown up in Mahora in the last few days, and she had received more than a few looks of pure hatred from them. It made her incredibly nervous to walk around by herself, so she had hung out with the rest of the No Name Band whenever she could. But sometimes that just wasn't an available option...such as now.

As one of the more...visibly striking members of the club with her long legs, yellow hair, and bright green eyes, she had been chosen as one of those to have a highly visible presence at the Kendo Club's exhibition matches in order to attract more attention to the club. Intellectually, she knew she could call in sick or even simply not show up, but... Kai sighed. "Why am I such a sap?" she wondered aloud. She was just too damn _nice_. She let the club manager walk all over her, she let Ayumi tell her what to do...she let anyone with a sob story trick her into doing things for them. She heaved another sigh and checked the time on her cell phone. "I blame Takahata-sensei," she grumbled under her breath. He had spent a lot of time with her when she first arrived in Mahora years ago, newly orphaned, on the run from...but that was ancient history. Takahata-sensei had done his best to raise her right, something she was actually extremely thankful for, but she knew she was just one of many who had been in the same situation; she wasn't the only orphan on campus, not by a long shot.

She shook her head to clear it and looked at the time on her cell phone again. She had delayed for as long as she possibly could; she had to leave now or leave her club in the lurch. But...she shivered as another youkai walked past out on the street, glancing over at her curiously. It swiftly turned its head and walked on at a brisk pace, not looking back. Kai dropped her shinai bag at her feet and reached up once again to make sure her beret was nice and snug on her head, safely hiding her oni horns, and tried to swallow, her mouth dry. She picked up the shinai bag and walked swiftly along the sidewalk out to the road, keeping her eyes down and her head bowed, doing her best to keep from attracting undue attention.

* * *

><p>Nevon was walking along the sidewalk, hands idly stuffed into his pockets, when something in the back of his head warned him that an oni was coming. Masashi hated the oni, so as far as Nevon was concerned, so did he, even if he had never met one before. He paused on the sidewalk, looking around nervously. He had never really run into an oni before. Sure, he had seen them, always at a distance, but...the sensation grew and he knew the oni was getting closer. He slipped into a nearby alley and, not even knowing what he was going to do, pressed himself flat against the side of the alley, waiting. The sensation grew, and grew, and grew until his senses were screaming at him to run, and he knew the oni was <em>right there<em>, not ten feet away, coming down the sidewalk at a brisk trot. Nevon edged toward the corner of the wall, waited a moment, and for reasons even he didn't understand, stuck his foot out. He was immediately rewarded with a girlish yelp as a girl with long legs, unnaturally yellow hair, and a beret tripped over his foot and flopped down face first on the sidewalk.

He stood there a moment, staring in shock, as the girl pushed herself up on hands and knees, grabbed the long, narrow bag she had been carrying, and gave him a hurt, reproachful look. Then she realized what he was, he again realized what she was, and both their eyes widened. The oni girl scrambled backward off the sidewalk and out into the street as she reclaimed her hat, and took off running. Something about the sight of her fleeing from him, the sun flashing on those long legs, triggered the predatory instinct that came with his fox youkai heritage, and he took off after her, a crazy whirl of thoughts swirling through his mind, foremost among them the simple confused thought: _THAT is a youkai?_ _She's pretty!_

* * *

><p><em>Run. Run. Run.<em>

Kai's heart was pounding, her arms and legs pumping as she ran at top speed.

_Keep running. It doesn't matter that he's right behind you. Run._

She took a running leap to clear a hedge fence and darted off into a park.

_Did he follow?_ A quick glance back. _He followed. Run!_

She ran and ran and ran, through the park, across the street on the other side, into a wide open alley. She had just taken another running leap to clear a fallen trashcan when she saw the kitten that had been standing on the other side, panicked, tried to move herself out of the way in mid air, and hit the ground rolling. She had barely made it back to her feet when a tremendous force rocketed into her from behind and she hit the ground again under a heavy weight, something in her head screaming that a youkai was _right there_. She tried to scramble out from under it, but it had caught hold of her and didn't seem to want to let go. She flailed around and managed to land a lucky kick. The youkai that had caught her let out a yelp and let go, and Kai was up again in an instant.

Unfortunately, so was the youkai.

He snagged her wrist as she tried to take off running and swung her around into a wall, driving the breath from her lungs as tiny cracks raced up and down the bricks behind her from the impact. Her head cleared a second later and she tried to pull away, but the wall behind her blocked any escape.

He was _right there_.

He was standing _right there_ in front of her, pinning her arms to the wall, spread out to either side. His face was mere inches away, and she noticed, absurdly, that he didn't look much older than she did herself. His eyes were wide, almost afraid, staring straight into hers, a look she distantly realized was mirrored in her own expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came and he closed it again after a moment, gulped, and his face moved another inch or two closer.

Kai, for her part, stood there helplessly, her heart pounding in her chest, something she had never felt before brewing in the pit of her belly. He was actually (_a youkai a killer he chased me people SAW he chased me he chased me he's gonna kill me he's gonna-_) a little cute.

His lips brushed up against hers for the briefest of moments and her mind froze up.

_Soft_

Their lips parted the merest instant later and they stood staring at each other for a long, long, mutually shocked moment, and then, nervously, he started to move forward for another kiss.

"You shouldn't do that," a girl's voice said quietly.

Kai finally snapped out of it when the youkai boy (_he's cute he's really cute oh God what's wrong with me?_) suddenly jerked away, his eyes rolling up in his head, and keeled over backward to land in an unconscious heap on the ground. Kai, stunned, collapsed to her knees and sat there, just looking at him. That had been her first kiss..he had...he had _stolen_ her first kiss...! He was a scary _youkai_, and he had _stolen her first kiss_...! She balled her hands up into fists as moisture built up in her eyes.

"Don't."

Kai jerked back against the wall; the word had cut through her mind like a buzzsaw. She clutched the sides of her head for a moment as a headache abruptly welled up and just as quickly vanished, leaving behind the sensation that she had just barely dodged a mental bullet. She shook her head to clear it, feeling suddenly woozy, and looked over at the girl who had spoken. "Ono...san?"

Ono Ran dipped her head in the merest excuse of a nod, and looked back down at the young youkai, who seemed to be breathing regularly now. She looked up at Kai, her expression neutral except for the merest hint of disappointment. "You should be more careful."

Kai braced herself for another mental impact, but nothing came. She looked warily at her dark and spooky classmate Ono Ran, who had turned around and was heading for the end of the alley. She slowly climbed to her feet, wobbled for a moment on shaky legs, and called out after her.

"Thanks! I don't what you did Ono-san, but thank you for saving me!"

Ran turned around, gave her a good long look, and turned away again. "I didn't save you."

Kai blinked. "...huh? What do you mean?" Ran didn't even bother to answer; she simply kept walking. Kai looked back down at the mysterious young youkai who had chased her, still lying unconscious. Her cell phone rang, startling her back to reality. She quickly picked up her all but forgotten shinai bag and beret, tugging the latter down tight over her oni horns, themselves already hidden, wrapped as they were in her hair. She flipped her phone open, winced at the club manager's shouting, and flipped it shut again as she took off toward the exhibition area, leaving the strange youkai boy behind.

* * *

><p>"I...I don't know about this..."<p>

"It will be fine, Kara-san! Don't worry!"

"Heh, she's right! There's a _reason_ I chose you as our bassist, Kara!" Ayumi said as she looked the well built girl up and down before diving back into the clothing rack. 'Why doesn't she react to anything like that?' Ayumi thought petulantly as she quickly thumbed through the costumes. Kara never reacted to the innuendo or veiled insults Ayumi shot at her. Maybe she could tell Ayumi didn't really mean it...? Ayumi glanced back at her under the pretense of estimating her size, letting her gaze linger for a moment on Kara's torso. She shook her head and turned back to the clothing rack. 'Nah.' Anyone with boobs that big _had_ to be an idiot.

"Oh wow, this will be so cute on you!" Miyako said as she came up with a frilly skirt.

"I-I don't know-"

"No way, it's not short enough," Ayumi said dismissively. "If she wants to win this, she'll have to wear something a little more daring...like this!" she said, holding up what appeared to be a series of narrow straps on a hanger. _Very_ narrow straps, and not very many of them.

Ayumi turned away to hide her grin as Kara went red in embarrassment...she had certainly reacted _that_ time. 'Heh, she's cute when she does that,' she thought absently as she continued flipping through the hangers. She went a little red herself when she realized what she had just thought. Luckily, Miyako spoke up a few seconds later.

"You can wear this for the swimsuit competition, Kara-san!" Miyako said.

Ayumi glanced over at the modest two-piece swimsuit Miyako held, looked back at Kara, and cocked her head to the side. "...you know, that's probably the best one you'll find. It looks like everyone else already got all the good ones," she said, stepping back from the clothing rack in disgust. She sighed.

"I really don't want to do this..." Kara said nervously.

"Nonsense," Ayumi said. "Do it for the band! We need more exposure!" 'If we had more exposure, Misa-sama might acknowledge me,' she thought before she could stop herself. Even after winning several individual awards as well as the much-coveted Day One Fan Favorite award, Misa-sama _still_ hadn't contacted her at all...she tried to ignore it, but the plain fact was there, always digging away at the back of her mind. This whole 'Enter Kara In The Beauty Contest!' thing had been meant as a way to distract herself from it, but...she realized she was staring out into space and shook her head to clear it. "Kara!" she said suddenly, pointing at the girl in question.

"Yes!" Kara said, all but jumping at the abrupt shout. Ayumi scowled a bit at the interesting effect the sudden movement had on Kara's anatomy.

"You have a dress, don't you? Miyako, go and get it real quick. We need to hurry, and none of these," she said, gesturing vaguely at the clothing rack behind her, "is good enough. Go!"

Miyako hesitated and shot a worried look at Kara, who fumbled in her pants pocket for a moment before coming up with a key, which she held out. Miyako took it, looked warily back at Ayumi, and fled the room at a run, no doubt wondering how Ayumi knew about the simple white dress Kara had bought and never worn out in public.

* * *

><p>"And now, let's welcome Kara Stride to the stage! She's come to Mahora from America. Tell us about yourself, please," the announcer said, holding out the microphone.<p>

Ayumi watched from the side as Kara fumbled her awkward way through what Ayumi supposed was meant to be a friendly chat with the announcer, and sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I was right. She's really cute, dammit," she muttered to herself. And that dress...! Ayumi had seen her in that simple white dress once before when spying on her, but when Miyako came back with it from the dorms and the two of them rushed to get Kara into it, Ayumi had still found herself awestruck; and worst of all, Kara had noticed and turned away with a heavy blush coloring her cheeks, pleading with her to stop staring. Ayumi had had to grit her teeth and clench her fists to keep from...from what? Ayumi shivered as she recalled the intensity of that feeling. 'What's wrong with me...?' she wondered briefly as Kara's long, awkward interview finally came to a close up on stage. Ayumi looked out over the crowd and found the vast majority to be just as awestruck as she herself had been...not that she would ever admit it to anyone.

A short while later the contestants came to the back to change for the bathing suit competition, and Ayumi found herself staring _again_. 'This is getting irritating...' she thought as she hung up the dress Kara had just taken off in the absence of anything else to distract her from her bandmate. She picked up a stray clothes hanger and fumbled with it to keep her hands busy as she glanced back at Kara again, standing there shyly while Miyako made minute adjustments to her bathing suit. Kara looked over at her and Ayumi quickly looked away. 'Damn it!' That bathing suit hadn't looked like anything special when Miyako took it off the clothing rack; Ayumi would have dismissed it entirely if she had seen it in a store, but once it was on Kara...she shivered, doing her best to hide it. Kara filled out the top spectacularly, while the bottom...Ayumi had never liked the idea of covering up while wearing a swimsuit, but that length of pretty cloth that had been slung around Kara's hips was...enchanting, to say the least. From the way it allowed occasional flashes of upper thigh to the way it emphasized the shape of the foreign girl's hips, Ayumi found herself all but hypnotized. 'What is wrong with me?' she asked herself again. 'Am I really that screwed up...?'

"Wah~ Kara-san is so pretty! Don't you think so?" Miyako asked, looking quite proud as she watched her friend go up onto the stage with the other contestants.

Ayumi mumbled something in reply as she continued to watch her bandmate up on the stage. Kara was by far the most heavily clothed contestant; a few of the others had even decided, apparently upon seeing Kara in her dress for the first time, to wear something not unlike that weird series of narrow straps that Ayumi had half-jokingly suggested for Kara to wear; others had chosen the skimpiest bikini-style swimsuits they could find, but...Ayumi could honestly say that even with all that skin on display, Kara blew them all away, shy as she was in that two piece of hers, and most of the others weren't half bad themselves, being actual adults. She smiled a little at the growing sense of pride she was feeling. That was _her bandmate_ out there! That was her...her friend...? she admitted reluctantly, then nodded. Yes, Kara was her friend.

The contestants came back in a moment later, several of them behaving rudely or glaring at Kara, who was so embarrassed that, for the most part, she didn't even notice. Miyako and Ayumi helped her out of her bathing suit and into something more suitable for the next part: a tight band shirt and a pair of jeans. Ayumi helped her tie her hair up, while Miyako opened the case with her bass guitar in it.

Thirty minutes later, Kara came back in, beaming at Ayumi and Miyako. "They liked it!" she said happily, cradling her bass.

"Well of course, you're the bassist of the No Name Band, it's no surprise you're one of the best," Ayumi said, grinning at her. 'Yep, she's best like this,' Ayumi thought. Dress Kara and Swimsuit Kara were nice, but Bassist Kara was the best, no doubt about it. Bassist Kara was the real one; the others were just like wearing masks to hide who you were, Ayumi thought.

"Now, back into the dress for the finale!" Ayumi said happily.

* * *

><p>"What do you <em>mean<em> you're only fourteen?" the announcer demanded in a small office backstage. Kara flinched back and Ayumi stepped between the two of them and took over.

"Oh? Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"You can just _bet_ there is!" the announcer said. "This contest was open to adults only. Adults only! Don't you know what that means?"

Ayumi grinned viciously. "It means you paraded an underage girl around half naked, doesn't it?"

The announcer's mouth opened, closed, opened again as he raised his hand up, pointing a finger up as if to make a point, closed again.

"You could get in trouble for that, couldn't you?" Ayumi asked, all too pleasantly.

The announcer glared.

Ayumi smiled.

Glare.

Smile.

Glare.

Smile.

_Glare._

_Smile._

_**Glare.**_

_**Smile.**_

"Damn it," the announcer mumbled.

"Hey, don't worry about it, it'll be fine! Just don't let word get out that you let a fourteen year old win your _adult_ beauty contest and everything will be fine! Now, about the prize money..." she said, slinging an arm up around the guy's neck to drag his head down to her level. "How much are we talking about here?"

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that actually worked!" Ayumi said gleefully as she split the prize money three ways, actually doing it evenly for once.<p>

"You should have paid more attention to which contest you entered her in," Miyako said in a severe tone. Severe for her, anyway; in reality, it translated to a cute pout and a pointing finger.

"Eh, it turned out all right in the end," Ayumi said dismissively as she handed Kara her cut. "Here ya go, you can get that new guitar case you wanted."

Kara hesitantly took the money, giving her a curious look. "Why are you being so...nevermind," she said, turning away and stuffing the money into her pocket. "I have to go, I'm assigned to work in the classroom for the next few hours."

Ayumi watched Kara walk away for a moment.

"I...I have to go too. I have something..." Miyako said awkwardly.

"Eh? You too?" Ayumi asked, then heaved a theatrical sigh. "Okay, you can abandon me in my time of need, I don't-"

"Kay! See ya!" Miyako said as she ran off, skirt flapping in the breeze created by her movement.

"-mind," Ayumi finished dryly. She heaved another sigh, a real one, and looked at the wad of money she held. Maybe this would get her stepmom off her back for a while...? Shaking her head, she stuffed it into her pocket and strolled off toward the dorms, the complete lack of contact by Misa temporarily forgotten.

* * *

><p><em>A little later, at the tournament grounds...<em>

* * *

><p>"Hello everyone, and welcome to the qualifying round of this year's Mahora Martial Arts Tournament!" Yuuna said into the microphone she held as she stepped out onto the walkway that had been built between the four temporary fighting stages. She paused for a moment and waved at the huge crowd as they roared their approval. "Now who here wants to see a fight, huh?" she asked, then held her free hand up to her ear as if she couldn't hear the crowd's response. "What? You want a tea party?" Roars of laughter greeted the question.<p>

* * *

><p>"Will someone please take the microphone away from her?" Ayaka asked from the waiting area. "I want to get this done before dark." Some of the other fighters laughed.<p>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Yuuna had finally stopped yukking it up with the crowd and got to the point.<p>

"As per tradition, the qualifying round will be held as a battle royale! However, due to the number of entrants, we have decided to split them into four groups, with the final four in each group proceeding on to the tournament itself. Will each group please proceed to your designated area? Thank you!" Yuuna said into the microphone, then thrust it up high in the air and spun around crazily as the crowd roared again.

* * *

><p>"Well, that could have gone better," Kazumi said as Yuuna entered the announcer's booth.<p>

"Huh? Whaddaya mean? That was great!" she said as she flung herself into her chair, throwing one leg over the armrest as she made herself comfortable. "The crowd loves me!"

"More like they love the shorts and the tanktop," one of the sound techs muttered, drawing laughter from the others.

"Well, ya gotta play the crowd sometimes," Yuuna said, puffing out her chest before bursting into laughter herself. She felt really, honestly good for the first time since Possum's kidnapping. She had spoken with Negi, the two of them had made plans, and now the only thing left was to find her missing student. It was only a matter of time! Her usual grin widened further.

* * *

><p>Ayaka eyed the other fighters in her group as everyone climbed up onto the fighting stage. She knew several of them and could recall seeing several others wandering around town recently; she nodded at her old classmate Fuuka, who grinned widely at her and waved. All of the other contestants in her group looked strong, friends and strangers alike, but one stranger in particular caught her eye; the woman was slightly taller than Ayaka's 5'8", and something about her facial structure was very familiar. Just then, the woman glanced at her and their eyes locked, and Ayaka knew she had found a rival. The woman nodded at her, and Ayaka realized she was grinning in anticipation.<p>

* * *

><p>"..."<p>

"Er...hi, Madoka! How are you?" Makie asked pleasantly, then gave the other girl a winning smile.

"..."

"Madoka?"

Madoka reached up and squeezed the bridge of her nose for a moment as she let out a massive sigh. "You're not serious, right? This is just a joke, right?"

"Nope! I really entered!"

"..."

"Ooh, it's almost time to start! Let's stick together, okay?" Makie asked, smiling brightly at her old classmate as the two of them stood on the fighting stage, surrounded by a large number of professional fighters of all shapes and sizes, though most of those shapes and sizes would best be described by words such as 'ripped', 'huge', 'massive', 'battle-scarred', and 'bulging with muscle'.

"Just...just stay behind me, okay?" Madoka said tiredly as she sized up the competition; she spotted the missing Possum Cade's big sister Lucy, who had given Madoka a _very_ good fight during the vampire incident, and nodded. Lucy saw her as well and nodded in return. "Let's just get this over with..." Madoka said, moving to keep herself between Makie and the nearest opponent.

Makie smiled as she straightened her frilly pink skirt and tugged on the bicycle shorts underneath. "Mm-hmm!"

* * *

><p>Yuuna stood up in the announcer's booth to get a better look at the participants in the four groups about to start. "Oh wow, Makie actually went and did it," she said admiringly.<p>

"No way!" Kazumi said, jumping out of her seat and rushing over to look.

"Yes way! She's right over there, by Madoka!" Yuuna said, pointing.

"Oooh, heh, poor Madoka," Kazumi said, grinning hugely. "Makie got pretty good back in high school and she's been practicing to get back in shape, but still...heh, poor Madoka," she repeated. Yuuna just laughed.

* * *

><p>Due to the large number of contestants who had signed up and the limitations as far as space for battle went, it was decided that the final four in each group would be selected to move on into the tournament proper, resulting in a total of sixteen competitors. Each match would be done in single elimination style. If a competitor became seriously injured or a doctor declared them unfit to fight after their match, they would be disqualified and, if the competitor had won his or her previous match, their next opponent would receive a bye and be allowed to move on to the next round.<p>

The timekeeper rang the bell, and chaos erupted.

* * *

><p>Madoka's first act in the qualifying round of the tournament was to shove Makie down and out of the way as a big man she had seen strutting around town the last few days tried to shove her off the edge of the ring in an attempt to disqualify her at the very beginning.<p>

Madoka's second act in the qualifying round of the tournament was to punch said big man in the stomach. _Hard_.

His face went white in response to the first hit, he staggered with the second, and yet kept his feet even as the third hit drove him further back, looking as if he might faint. He went down hard, however, when Makie leapfrogged over Madoka from behind and drop kicked him in the face.

Madoka's third act in the qualifying round of the tournament, therefore, was to, perhaps justifiably, gape at Makie.

Makie, for her part, grinned back sheepishly. "I've been practicing," she said, waving her hand.

Madoka sighed in resignation, barely managing to suppress the urge to smack her forehead. "Well come on then."

* * *

><p>In the group she was assigned, Taro found her attention drawn to one opponent in particular: a big man, maybe seven feet tall, with short red hair. Everything he did, from the way he let his gaze sweep over his opponents to the way he moved when he walked, simply <em>screamed<em> competence. Whoever he was, he was the real deal, a _real _fighter, someone who had seen real life or death battles time and time again and survived.

She wanted to fight him.

Glancing around at the other fighters, Taro recognized quite a few, but only one other stood out in her mind: an older girl she had seen around town and training with the others; if she recalled correctly, the girl's name was Liliana Rosario, Kugimiya Madoka's only student and that aggravating Sakai Reiko's best friend. Taro had never seen the other girl in actual combat, but from the way she moved she seemed quite competent. When the qualifying round started, her assessment of the big man, at least, was proven correct: he waded right into the thick of it, throwing aside anyone who got in his way. Not to be outdone, Taro forgot about picking out individual opponents and swiftly followed suit.

* * *

><p>Sachiko spun around, slipping out of the range of the woman who had attempted to tackle her. Spinning with the momentum, she kicked at the woman's head as she tried to stop her wild charge, sending her staggering off the edge of the fighting stage, disqualifying her. Another one, a tall man with a leering grin, came at her, attempting to sweep her feet out from under her, but Sachiko saw it coming from a mile away and easily avoided it just in time to get kicked in the face by a young dark skinned girl perhaps a year or two older than she was herself. She spun with the impact and the dark skinned girl jerked back just in time to avoid a spinning kick to the chin, eyes wide in surprise at the sudden attack. The girl was ready for her next kick, however, and snagged her ankle, using Sachiko's own momentum to aid her own acrobatic flip. Sachiko just barely had time to realize what the girl had done before she hit the stage's surface hard, but she was already kicking at the dark skinned girl, who had gone straight for an ankle lock. Sachiko caught a brief flash of movement in the corner of her eye, and barely managed to throw herself out of the way as the oddly familiar masked girl she had seen the previous day launched herself through the air, landed on the dark skinned girl's shoulders with her legs wrapped around the girl's neck, and twisted backwards and around all in one motion, throwing the dark skinned girl to the floor next to Sachiko, who rolled away and came up on her feet in a single smooth motion, facing the newcomer and the dark skinned girl, who was up almost as quickly. The three of them stood there, watching each other warily for perhaps a second until the dark skinned girl smiled in a way that involved only the merest quirk of the lips, dipped her head in a tiny nod of acknowledgment, and darted away toward the nearest knot of fighters, looking for an easier target. Sachiko looked warily at the masked girl, who nodded at her, and the two backed away from each other, following the dark skinned girl's example.<p>

* * *

><p>Ayaka found herself face to face with the strange woman from before in the middle of the ring, ducked a sharp jab to her head, and fended off the knee the other woman tried to drive into her midsection, pushing the woman off balance as she did. Ayaka followed through by crowding the strange woman and grabbing her arm in an attempt to position her for a throw, but the woman blocked her, their arms locked together.<p>

They stood staring at each other for a moment, each struggling to overpower the other.

"Kakizaki Hatsune," the strange woman said, something in her eyes making her seem to grin in anticipation even though she maintained a blank expression.

Ayaka had no such reservations, however. "Yukihiro Ayaka, and you would be Misa's older sister, correct?" she said, grinning like a shark as she abruptly lunged forward, forcing Hatsune back.

Hatsune nodded in response to Ayaka's question, resisted her efforts to force her back for a moment, then made an abrupt move of her own as she rolled backward. Ayaka almost fell for it, but realized what the other woman was doing and disengaged just in time to avoid being thrown over the edge of the stage. As they stood watching each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move, Ayaka found herself grinning, an expression mirrored in the other woman's face. Yes, she had found a rival all right. Why hadn't Misa told her about this?

* * *

><p>The crowd roared as the final group was reduced to four fighters and Yuuna trotted out again. She brought the microphone up. "Hey everybody, did you miss me?" The crowd laughed in response, and Yuuna followed suit. "Okay! We have our fighters! From Group One," she said, flinging her hand out in the direction of the first fighting stage, "we have Kakizaki Hatsune from Hokkaido, Mahora Girls' Middle School janitor Margaret Gunther, the youthful ninja Narutaki Fuuka," Yuuna lowered her voice to a mere shout at this point "I hear she was trained by the legendary Nagase Kaede," she said, winking at the crowd. "And finally Mahora's own Yukihiro Ayaka! Give 'em a hand!"<p>

Kazumi strolled out to join Yuuna, waving at the crowd as she came. "Hey guys, remember me?" she said, laughing at the crowd's excited reaction upon seeing one of the most popular freelance journalists in the prefecture coming out to help with the announcing. "I'll be helping Yuuna here!" she said, slinging an arm around Yuuna's neck in a friendly headlock while the crowd burst into laughter again. "Here are our winners in Group Two! First, Daigouin Pochi! He and several of his friends are going to open up a motorcycle shop here in town, be sure to visit when it's open! Second, we have the masked luchador, er... 'El Buho', I think? Did I say that right?" she asked, glancing over at the fighting stage where said masked girl was standing. The girl nodded hesitantly and Kazumi shrugged and continued on. "Next we have Cocone Fatima Rosa! Hey Cocone, long time no see! Wow, you sure got tall," Kazumi said, waving. Cocone nodded in response, the only sign of her embarrassment at being singled out in such a way a faint tinge of pink in her cheeks. "And finally," Kazumi said, "A class representative from our very own Mahora Girls' Middle School and one of our youngest competitors, Nakamura Sachiko! Give our Group Two winners a hand, everyone!"

"Okay, my turn again!" Yuuna said as she stepped forward. "Our winners in Group Three are...this big guy," she said, gesturing toward the huge red haired guy standing in the center of the Group Three stage, smirking at the audience. "His name is Rex Crimson. Next, female high school transfer student Liliana Rosario! Heya Lili-chan!"

A faint "Don't call me that!" could be heard over the laughter of the crowd.

Yuuna laughed along with the crowd for a moment. "Okay guys, settle down! We need to finish this before lunchtime! Anyway," she said, once the crowd's laughter had dwindled to a mild roar, "next we have another old friend of mind! Congratulations on qualifying, Narutaki Fumika! Like her sister Fuuka, she was also trained by Nagase Kaede! And finally, here's a face and name I know a lot of you are familiar with, Mahora's own Urashima Taro, the Street Sweeper! Congratulations, Taro-kun!"

Taro shouted something that couldn't be heard over the roar of the crowd, and Kazumi brought up her microphone again. "Guess I get Group Four, huh? Over here we have...Cort!" she said, pointing at a tall, strong looking man who nodded to the crowd with a serious expression on his face. "No last name given, huh?" Kazumi said, looking at the paper she held in her hand. Cort shrugged. "Oh well, we'll get it later. Anyway, next we have Lucy Cade! She's searching for her younger sister. If you think you might have seen her, come to the help desk after this, okay?" Kazumi said as a picture of Possum's face was put up on a giant screen. "And now, two faces I know and...tolerate," Kazumi said, timing the slight pause before 'tolerate' perfectly to draw yet another burst of laughter from the crowd, "Sasaki Makie and Kugimiya Madoka! Give our contestants a hand, everybody!"

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I made it into the tournament!" Makie said excitedly. "I can't wait!"<p>

"Ugh, I can't believe you made it into the tournament," Madoka said, slumped over on a table. "What if you get hurt? I'm not trying to be mean, but I think it'd be for the best if you dropped out..."

Makie shook her head, the stubborn anticipatory grin she used to wear before gymnastics competitions returning to her face for the first time in years. "Nope! I qualified, fair and square! And besides," she said, grinning at Madoka, "if I get hurt, I can just get Konoka-chan to heal me~"

Madoka grimaced and banged her forehead on the tabletop. "...I think I'm getting a migraine..."

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>Author's Notes<span>**: First of all, sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out; things have been so crazy here over the past few months that I've used up all the chapters I've written up to this point; there are likely to be more delays in the coming month or two until I can get a decent amount of "backup" chapters written. But anyway..._

_So, here we have our tournament contestants. If you paid attention when Ako first met that kid, Rale, then one of the contestants should be familiar; another should be as well if you read the epilogue of Still Waters 3 Book 1. Daigouin, of course, is one of those who took part in the tournament in the manga. If you don't remember Margaret Gunther, she's the janitor Caro Shaw talked to way back in the beginning of Still Waters 3. Liliana Rosario was introduced in the short story The Ace of Spades, which can be found on this site, and has made a few appearances since. Lucy Cade is the missing student Possum Cade's big sister, who played a part in the Intruder Arc in Still Waters 3 Book 1. The masked luchador girl is...a mystery. El Buho should translate to The Owl, which is just a name I used for masked luchador type wrestlers back when I played a lot of wrestling games with a Create-A-Wrestler mode._


	11. Intermission: Mana's Pactio

**Still Waters 3 Book 2, Chapter 8.5, Mana's Pactio**_  
><em>

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><p><em>I see the demon, exhausted and in pain though she has no wounds, walking through a vast field of faceless corpses. Her clothes are ragged, she carries the hilt of a broken sword in one hand and a small card in the other, and her eyes are ancient, haunted.<em>

_Mana Tatsumiya, S. Dream Journal_

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><p><em>Saturday, June 27th, Just Before Noon<br>_

* * *

><p><em>I have to warn Mana...!<em>

Saga Jin, Yakuza gunslinger and all around badass, dove into the alley for cover, yelping as a flying chip of concrete torn loose by high powered rifle round ripped through the leg of his pants, tearing a ragged, bloody line across the back of his leg. He quickly ejected the empty magazine from his remaining pistol and, frowning, looked at his last one. "Fifteen rounds, great. Juuust great," he grumbled under his breath, favoring his injured leg as he inserted the new magazine and made his way down to the other end of the alley.

A bullet hit the brickwork six inches in front of his face and ricocheted with an angry whine and he yelped again, jerking back out of sight.

Saga Jin was a mess. Nobuo, his longtime friend and underling, had been methodically driven off by the sharpshooter and he hadn't seen him since, his hair, normally slicked back and neat, was wild and full of rock chips from numerous near-misses, he had makeshift bandages tied around his left hand and his right forearm, and his normally clean if sloppily worn suit was wrinkled, torn, and covered in sweat, blood, and grime.

He had really liked this suit.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath as he checked his pockets yet again in the futile hope that he had somehow missed anything that might have been useful. When his search produced, surprise surprise, nothing, he leaned back against the wall of the alley and took a series of deep breaths to calm his nerves. "Okay. Are we okay? We're okay," he said to himself as he took a longer look around the alley he was trapped in. It opened on a wide open, all but deserted street on both ends, perfect to be sniped in. The alley itself was fairly long, but there were no side alleys, no doors, not even any alcoves; there was nothing but a dumpster. Which, upon closer inspection, would allow him to reach a narrow ledge on the side of the building if he climbed up on it. Hmm.

Jin scrambled up onto the dumpster, taking care to keep to the edges and not step on the flimsy plastic top, and found the ledge well within his reach. He could see a fire escape further along the wall; if he could get up onto the ledge and not fall off...

Several bruises and twenty extremely hazardous minutes later, Jin forced open a window and climbed into what appeared to be a _very_ cheap one room apartment. He opened the closet and found a series of very..._loud_...Hawaiian shirts inside. Sighing, he stripped off his ruined suit jacket and left it on the back of the room's only chair, tossed a stack of money onto the bed, and began riffling through the absent apartment owner's dresser. A few minutes later he walked out into the hallway feeling more like himself than he had all day in spite of wearing a hawaiian shirt two sizes too big, a pair of very loose jeans, his sunglasses, and a bucket hat. His shoes, absurdly nice compared to the rest of the ridiculous getup he was wearing, completed the image. Jin smiled deviously. With any luck, the sniper would think such a disguise too obvious and not, you know, try to murder him in cold blood the instant he stepped outside.

* * *

><p>Mana had been jumpy all day, not that anyone had noticed; her self control was too great. But still...she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up accompanied by the sense that someone was watching her, so she very calmly turned and headed towards the nearest building, which just happened to be the cafe owned by her old classmate Yukihiro Ayaka and run by her other old classmate Murakami Natsumi.<p>

Inside, the feeling of danger was diminished somewhat, but still present.

"Mana! I haven't seen you in a while! Here, take a seat!"

Mana looked up to see Natsumi coming around the counter with a big smile on her face. A pale red dot flashed across the room and Mana took a running dive, tackling Natsumi to the floor just as a bullet shattered against the thick window; Mana didn't even need to check the trajectory to know the bullet had been intended for her old classmate's forehead. She ignored the screams of the other patrons while Natsumi pushed her off and swiftly motioned for the waitresses and customers to go into the back room, away from the windows, wisely keeping her head down the whole time while fishing around in her pocket for her pactio cards.

"Don't bother," Mana muttered. "He's probably after me." She couldn't very well have Natsumi go after the sniper; there might not be enough left to question afterward. No matter how indecisive and shy her old classmate Natsumi might appear in everyday life, when swift action was called for, Natsumi was always one of the first to react.

"How do you know that?" Natsumi whispered back, her voice showing the steel that had always been hidden deep within her; Mana had recognized it even back when they had first met. Natsumi might appear weak to the uninitiated, but she was far from a fragile little flower; Natsumi could definitely take care of herself.

"I've been busy since graduation," Mana said. She didn't want to take the time to explain anything about the various smuggling rings, slavery rings, and other criminal enterprises she and Ku Fei had obliterated all over Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Natsumi nodded. "Do you think-"

What she was going to ask was forgotten when a man in a bloody Hawaiian shirt and jeans threw himself through the doorway and came up in a rolling crouch, 9mm pistol in hand and pointed directly into Mana's face. Naturally, the barrel of Mana's Desert Eagle was already two inches from the man's forehead.

"Heh...heheh, not a pellet gun this time, huh?" he asked nervously, carefully reaching up to take off his sunglasses.

Mana looked at him for a moment and smirked slightly. "Saga Jin. It's been years. What brings you to Mahora?" she asked in a fairly friendly manner, as if the two of them weren't holding pistols in each others' faces.

"The peace and quiet," he replied, deadpan, smearing blood all over Natsumi's clean floor. "But seriously, do you mind getting that out of my face please? Thanks," he said, lowering his weapon as she lowered hers. Another round hit the window within an inch of the first one, and Jin dove for cover behind the counter.

"The glass is bulletproof," Natsumi said testily, glaring at the damage the two bullets had done. "It's going to cost a lot to replace that..." Even as she spoke, a third, fourth, and fifth round hit the glass, all in the same area; the sixth round actually broke through the damaged part of the window and ricocheted off the floor with an angry whine that had everyone diving for cover again.

"_Bulletproof_? What kind of cafe _is _this?" he demanded, flinching as another round came through.

Natsumi gave him the sort of look a manager gives an underling when they've behaved like an idiot. "It's a perfectly normal cafe for Mahora, I don't know what you're talking about."

Jin shook his head and turned to Mana. "Anyway, I suppose I'm too late," Jin said, bleeding all over the tile floor from several bullet wounds. Natsumi frowned at him a moment longer, but quickly got to work bandaging his wounds.

"For what?" Mana asked, hardly flinching as another bullet hit the thick steel which reinforced the counter directly behind her head.

"I came to warn you," Jin said, hissing in pain as Natsumi tightened a bandage around his forearm where a bullet had just barely tagged him. "I came to warn you that there's a bounty out on you. Remember that thing six years ago?" he said, referring to the incident in which several of Mana's classmates had been kidnapped, and also in which Jin and several other groups had been duped into holding the kidnapped students. Mana nodded, so he continued. "Yeah, one of the guys that was involved in that finally found someone crazy enough to hunt you down. He's up on that mountainside with a high powered rifle, and he's _good_. Shot the pistol right out of my hand after I winged him."

Mana raised an eyebrow. She had known Jin was a good shot, but _that_ good? To score a hit _at all_ at the distance he must have been shooting, using a normal pistol without a scope and with a target likely well hidden and camouflaged... She immediately bumped him up several levels in her mental list of serious threats. "Do you have any names?"

Jin shook his head. "No; all we know is he's some guy from the continent who's got a grudge against you. We already got the guy who hired him, so it's _got _to be a grudge that's kept him on the job."

"Thank you for the warning," Mana said, thinking swiftly. There were many, many people who hated her; she narrowed this group down to those with military experience as either soldiers or mercenaries. It was still a sizable list, so she narrowed it down further to those with notable marksmanship skills, barely even noticing as another round hit the counter behind her, through the tiny hole in the window. She had it narrowed down to three possibilities now, and two of those could quickly be crossed off the list by virtue of being dead.

"Anton Karlsson," she said aloud. The man had had the bad luck to be part of one of the first slavery rings she and Ku Fei had taken apart, and it had cost him his entire fortune. He had been arrested, broken out of jail, arrested again, killed several police in his second escape, and promptly joined another slavery ring where he worked for three weeks before she and Ku Fei shut it down as well, this time resulting in his face being plastered across every television set in Europe as a known fugitive. Several run ins later, and his hatred of Ku Fei and Mana in particular had reached insane levels; the man was incredibly dangerous. 'He must have thought the festival would provide ample cover for his attempt,' she thought. Anton, if he truly was the sniper up on the hillside, had certainly done his research. Gunfire in the background was a common thing during the Mahora Festival. She looked at Natsumi and Jin. "Stay here." She took a quick look around Natsumi's cafe and darted out through the front door before anyone could stop her.

Jin sighed as he watched her go. "I hope she doesn't get herself killed..."

Natsumi gave him an incredulous look for a moment and shook her head. "You don't have to worry about her; just worry about how you're going to pay for the cleaning crew to get rid of the bloodstains all over my new floor," she said, tugging the most recent bandage tight enough to make the veteran yakuza gunslinger wince.

* * *

><p>When Mana left the building, Anton reacted immediately; the first shot whizzed by Mana's face, taking several strands of hair with it, but she kept going, ducking and darting around in an unpredictable zigzag, and though several shots came close, none came as close as the first one had. 'Anton never was good with a moving target...' Mana thought as she ducked between two buildings and paused to take stock of the situation. While she was by no means a bad shot, she doubted she could reenact Jin's amazing pistol shot with her Desert Eagle; she was good, but she wasn't <em>that<em> good, not with a pistol. If she tried to close with Anton, he'd see her coming a mile away; he'd pick her off before she was halfway up the mountain. She needed a long gun, but her own stash was in her new place halfway across town, and most of it wasn't ready for use yet. "Tch."

So that left...what? Anton had no problems shooting those around her to drive her out of hiding, so she had to move fast, whatever she did. A bullet struck the brickwork six inches from her head, spraying her face with tiny, jagged shards, one of which drew a ragged line across her cheek.

She eased further along the side of the building. Who else would have a weapon she could use? Saga was out of the question; while he and his men never went around unarmed, he had been down to one gun and two rounds of ammo when he found her, and his men were nowhere in sight. Yuuna, perhaps? The girl often carried more weaponry than some militia groups, but there was no telling where she was right now. She had no way of communicating with anyone else except for her cell phone, which, sadly, had been crunched when she took a rolling dive to evade a bullet earlier. Which left just one choice...

She knew where she had to go, but the problem was how to get there while keeping the largest number of people out of the line of fire. Perhaps along the river? She ducked out from behind the building and ran into a small, mostly deserted park, forced to duck and roll from tree to tree to keep from acquiring a few new holes. She paused for a moment to catch her breath and plan her next move, but a bullet driving itself through the tree trunk two inches from her head forced her to move. She ran to the edge of the park, hopped the fence, and took a running dive into the narrow drainage canal that ran alongside the park. She wormed her way into the tall grass that grew along the sides and paused to take stock of her situation and catch her breath. Anton had stopped shooting, which meant he was moving into position to get a better view. She had perhaps five seconds.

Half a second later, a bullet clipped her shoulder and she shot up and took off running down the canal at full speed until she came to a bridge for one of the many footpaths that crossed it. She jumped, grabbed hold, and scrambled up onto the bridge, wincing at the wound in her shoulder and narrowly avoiding another shot that pulled at her pant leg. She took off running toward the place she thought _he_ would be: the World Tree Plaza. But first, if she recalled correctly, her one chance was currently attending a wine-tasting event near it.

A round struck her upper arm and she staggered, tripped, and hit the ground on the side of the path, tumbling down a narrow ravine until she struck hard against a tree at the bottom. She jerked away a second later, just in time to avoid another shot, and staggered away into the undergrowth, her expression grim. She paused for a moment to catch her breath and check her wounds, and set off down the ravine at as fast a pace as she could manage.

* * *

><p>Mana burst out of the ravine onto the campus at a dead run, her clothing ripped and muddied and bloodied by her wild run through the woods. She barreled over a girl she had seen several times around town and vaguely recognized as an oni in Negi's class as she crossed the path, muttering a quick apology as she went, though she knew she was already too far for the girl to hear her. She ran up another hill as fast as she could manage with her wounds, the sniper's rounds narrowly missing her, and finally spotted the wine-tasting club's tent.<p>

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><p>"Hmm...it's nice, I think. Not quite full-bodied enough for my tastes, but then again—wah!" Eva said, staggering back out of the way as something that looked suspiciously like a blood-covered, week old zombie ran into the tent and shoved past her, accompanied by startled shouts and screams from the other patrons.<p>

Kamo looked up from his conversation with Chachazero just in time for the long-haired apparition to grab him by the tail and vanish through the opposite end of the tent from which it had entered.

Silence descended on the tent a moment later as those inside started to calm down and look at each other in confusion.

"What was that?"

"Did you see it? Was it a...a bear or something...?"

Eva cocked an eyebrow and looked at Chachazero, whose perpetual grin somehow gave the impression that she was more than a little ticked off.

"How rude!" Chachazero said, throwing down her wine glass. "And just when I thought I was finally getting somewhere...damn."

Eva shrugged and drained her wine glass.

* * *

><p>"So if you're not going to kill me, care to tell me what this is all about?" Kamo asked as dryly as he could manage while hanging by his tail from Mana's fist as she ran. He yelped a second later as his hair was neatly parted by a bullet.<p>

"Does that answer your question?" Mana asked, her voice unruffled as always. "Someone wants me dead; I think you know what I want," she said, darting behind the first available building in order to catch her breath, heavily favoring her side which, now that he looked at it, was covered in blood.

Kamo, naturally, took the opportunity to scramble up onto a more manageable position on her shoulder. "I gotcha. Do you know where he is?"

Mana nodded. "Come on."

Kamo barely had time to open his mouth before a bullet hit the wall across from them and ricocheted back into the wall they were leaning against, pelting him with chips of brick. He yelped as Mana took off again.

* * *

><p>She ran up the steps to the World Tree Plaza, spotted her quarry and, ignoring the bullet that hissed past her ear, took up a classic American Football player's pose and threw Kamo in a perfect arc which only ended when he smacked face first into the back of Negi's head.<p>

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><p>Negi sat up, rubbing the back of his head groggily as he watched Kamo scrambling to draw a pactio circle around him. "Wha...?"<p>

"No time for explanations, aniki!" Kamo said, then looked back in the direction from which he had been thrown and scrambled out of the way.

Negi turned to see what had frightened Kamo, and his eyes locked on Mana's as she came diving in. They collided and he was driven hard to the ground. Mana sat up, straddling his hips, and pulled him up to a seated position, dimly aware of the startled cries of those nearby who had witnessed the spectacle.

"Sorry, sensei," she said as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him toward her. Their lips met, the pactio circle activated with a flash, and a moment later Mana pushed him away, holding up a card as she staggered to her feet.

"Adeat."

It was huge; a six foot barrel, precision scope, ergonomically designed...Mana grinned wickedly as she sat behind the enormous gun and sighted in on her target. Anton Karlsson's shocked expression on that distant mountainside at the sudden change of fortune was priceless.

She pressed a button on the side, and an electric hum filled the air. A digital readout lit up, showing the words 'Charge 100%'. She checked her aim one final time, reading Anton's lips with ease even at this amazing distance as he started to mouth the words "Oh sh-", and squeezed the trigger.

The sound was terrific, a great _whump_ that rattled windows all around and raised dust from the ground; the projectile reached Anton's position before he could get much further than "-it!".

The impact was tremendous.

Negi sat up a moment later, looking at the smoking crater on the far mountainside, plainly visible even from this distance. "...what just happened?"

Mana observed the mountain's new crater through the scope of her railgun for a moment, and started to smile. It was quite a smile; wider and far more real than Negi had ever seen her smile before.

"Abeat."

She turned to Negi, still smiling as she held up the pactio card and began to sway woozily. "Thank you sensei; I will treasure it forever..." Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell forward.

"What...hey! Mana-san! Someone, help me please!" he cried out as she collapsed into his arms, falling unconscious from blood loss.

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><p><strong><em>Author's Notes:<em>**_ Sorry for the delay in updates; please bear with it a little longer. _

_*"-not a pellet gun this time, huh?" This line is a reference to the time Saga Jin and Mana first met resulting in a massive shootout, during the rescue mission in Chapter 18 of Still Waters 2.  
><em>


	12. Ch 9 Festival Second Day pt 2 Round 1

"Hey. Hey kid, wake up."

"Mmmno," Nevon mumbled, rolling away from whoever was shaking him. He curled up, barely possessing the mental faculties to notice that his bed was hard as concrete, much less to wonder why.

"Hey, kid."

"Mmgo'way..." he mumbled, reaching for a blanket which, strangely enough, wasn't there.

"Hey, you think he's all right?"

"I don't know...he looks okay, but why's he sleeping in a place like this?"

Nevon swam back up out of unconsciousness, he finally registered the fact that he was most definitely _not _in his bed at home, his eyes flashed open, and he found himself curled up on the concrete surface of an alley. He scrambled to his feet and swayed woozily; he would have fallen over but for the help of one of the two older youkai who had woken him up, who quickly steadied him. He looked at them blankly for a moment. Both were members of the Black Fox Tribe and quite a bit older than he was himself; they also looked like the sort of youkai you didn't mess with, like they were both capable of taking care of themselves. He shook his head to clear it of the haziness that just wouldn't go away, and staggered, clutching his head.

He had a _killer_ headache.

"Ow, my head," he mumbled as the taller of the two strangers helped him sit down again next to a wall. What was going on...? It felt as if someone had reached into his head and mixed everything up. He could recall only vague images of a...cute girl... Memories abruptly began to flood back in.

"Hey," the shorter of the two, who was also noticeably older, said, squatting down in front of him and peering closely at his face. "Are you okay?" Nevon flinched away as the stranger shined a small flashlight into his eyes. "Pupils look okay; you don't look like you've been taking drugs and even though you bumped your head, you probably don't have a concussion. Why were you sleeping there?"

_I kissed a cute oni girl and...what?_

"I...don't know," Nevon said honestly as he shrugged off the other youkai's help and stood up straight, thinking back to what little he could recall about the incident. That had been pretty much the first oni he'd ever seen up close. The girl's eyes had been so green, seemingly impossibly so, and...and outraged...and... "Oh no," he said, collapsing back down to his knees. The two strangers rushed to grab him before he could faint again.

"What is it? What's wrong?" the taller one asked, shaking him.

"Hey kid, just relax; here, sit back against the wall and-"

"Oh _crap_!"Nevon bellowed, surprising the two strangers with his vehemence. "I am such a freaking _idiot_!" Why had he even _done_ that? He groaned in exasperation at his own stupidity for forcing that kiss on the girl and smacked himself in the forehead.

The two strangers backed away a step or two and looked at each other before the shorter, older one squatted down to put himself at Nevon's current eye level. "Look kid, are you feeling okay? You look pretty pale...I think we should probably take you to the office they've got set up here. Do you even realize your ears are showing?"

Nevon just looked at him blankly.

"Your fox ears. They're showing. Your tail too," the man pointed out.

Nevon blinked at the other youkai, looked down at his tail, and blushed profusely as he promptly hid it along with his ears. How humiliating...!

"That's better. Here, let me help you up," the older youkai said, again helping him to his feet. Nevon realized they were about the same height, just under six feet tall, quite large for Nevon's age, but a little undersized for someone like the older youkai, though the Black Fox Tribe did tend toward the lower middle area of the height spectrum. "Are you here with your family? Not that you don't look old enough to be on your own," he added, knowing the sensitivity of young youkai around the proper age for the coming of age ceremony; those who had undergone it were usually very prickly about being seen as adults, while those who had yet to undertake the ceremony were more often than not even worse; the members of the Gold Fox Tribe were particularly bad about it, especially since they sent their children through the ceremony at such a young age.

"They're in the city," Nevon said, not really paying attention to the older youkai's words. He had to find that oni girl again! He had to apologize to her for what he had done! "I am _such_ an _**idiot**_!" he said again, covering his eyes in exasperation at his own idiotic actions as he leaned back against the wall again.

"Yeah..." the younger of the two strange youkai said as they looked at each other.

The older one sighed. "Look, are you going to be all right? Do you need us to help you get back to your family?" he asked seriously.

Nevon shook his head despondently. "No...I'll be alright. But..." he looked shyly up at the two of them. "You guys haven't seen an oni girl around here, have you? With bright green eyes? She's...she's really pretty," he said, looking away in embarrassment as his whole face went red.

The older one raised his eyebrows. "An oni girl? Whoa kid, you'd better be careful. You're Gold Fox tribe, right? Some of your people don't like that kind of thing."

Nevon's blush intensified as he looked away.

The older one sighed and shook his head, then let out a snort of amusement. "Oh well. Just so you know, kid. Come on Onyx," he said, talking to the other youkai. "We've got things to do."

Nevon listened absently to their conversation as the two strangers walked away. Something about watching a tournament...? They were long gone before he realized he hadn't even thanked them. But that oni girl...why had he done such a thing? He didn't even know her name...!

"I am _such _an idiot...!"

* * *

><p>"Here, do it. Call her," Adept Amos said, holding out the cell phone over the table, his aged eyes showing nothing but kind, grandfatherly warmth.<p>

Rale squirmed in his seat, his hands gripping the edges of the seat of his chair, and averted his eyes. "I...I can't-"

"Don't give me that!" Adept Cort barked suddenly from in front of the window where he had been angrily pacing with his arms crossed. Rale flinched back in the chair. "You know what this will mean for us," he said threateningly.

Rale focused his gaze on the edge of the table before him to avoid looking at either of the two adepts who had been tasked with leading the little group in hopes of retrieving the only vessel capable of containing the now-slumbering soul of the founder of The Children of Gilgamesh, known only as The Daughter of Gilgamesh, or The Daughter for short. Wreathed in prophecy, The Daughter was supposed to usher in a new age for the world, first by protecting it from destruction, then by spreading 'The Truth', a pleasant euphemism for the idea that, since Gilgamesh, the legendary divine King of Kings, had owned the world, so, by divine right, did his children. The fact that others who were _not_ his children were currently in possession of these things was an unpleasant detail, one that many among the leadership of The Children of Gilgamesh wished to fix, through fire and ruin if necessary.

And, of course, The Daughter would lead them to victory.

Rale squirmed in his seat, looking at the cell phone Adept Amos had placed on the table in front of him. "Do I...do I have to...? I mean...Ako-san-"

"The Daughter," Adept Cort said severely, crossing his arms over his barrel chest. Rale shrunk further into his seat; Adept Cort was by far one of the most frightening adepts in the whole order. Not only was the man's dark, hairy, wild appearance frightening, but he had a temper to match and had been known in the past to bodily throw awkward students and other annoying people through doors and windows. Even worse, the man had been a mercenary before joining The Children of Gilgamesh with his friend Braden Xyrely, who now sat on the council. As far as Rale, a farm boy from a rural area in the far north who had never seen any fight more serious than a couple of drunk farmers dusting it up behind the town's single tavern, the man was absolutely terrifying, and the subject of more than a few nightmares.

"The Daughter," Rale corrected helplessly. "She...what will happen to Ako-san, to the soul inhabiting the vessel?"

Adept Cort glowered for a moment, but turned his attention to the window again and remained silent; it was Adept Amos who took a seat across from Rale. "Initiate Rale, I think you already know the answer to that. But you must remember that this life is not fair. Good people die, bad people live, and sacrifices must be made to ensure the greater good. For example," he said, standing up to better gesture as he spoke, "animals must be sacrificed to provide us with meat, plants must be sacrificed to provide us with bread. And sometimes, sadly, a person must be sacrificed for the sake of us all. I am sorry, Initiate Rale, but the vessel _must_ be acquired. You have no choice; it is for the best."

As Adept Amos sat back in his chair, smiling kindly at him, Rale, for the first time, thought seriously of escape. 'He thinks he's right...!' he realized in one terrifying instant. Adept Amos was _crazy_! He looked at Adept Cort, hoping to get a dissenting opinion, but Adept Cort simply stood there beside the window with his arms crossed and his teeth clenched, looking out through the glass. His expression betrayed only the merest hint of disagreement, but he remained silent.

After an awkward moment, Adept Cort excused himself and left the room, and Rale looked back to Adept Amos, who sat there a few feet away, smiling with all the kindness of a doting grandfather as he gestured at the cell phone.

With no other choice, Rale picked it up, that little tune Ako-san had kept humming the whole time they were together on their date the day before absurdly running through his head.

* * *

><p>The crowd welcomed her with a roar as Yuuna strutted out onto the long walkway that led to the main stage where each match of the actual tournament would take place, currently occupied by the first two contestants. She waved as she went, soaking up all the attention she could get, her eyes bright, her smile wide as she reached the stage and climbed up with ease.<p>

After one final wave to the crowd, she raised the microphone to her lips and began. "The first match of our tournament is going to be a good one! On this side, we have a girl commonly called in by the police for help with missing persons cases, a girl who has played a big part in building up the St. Ursula High School Knife-Throwing Club, a girl who has even assisted the legendary hero of Mahora the Ace of Spades, the seventeen year old American beauty, Liliana Rosario! Everybody, give her a hand!" Yuuna said into the microphone, gesturing wildly the whole time while Liliana's face went redder and redder.

When Liliana had managed a faint wave to the audience, Yuuna brought the microphone up and spun in place to point her finger at the second contestant. "And facing her in this corner! From the dark depths of deepest Tokyo, an understated beauty appeared! Turning twenty this year, she also likes silver jewelry and strong guys, so you guys out there who want to-" Yuuna jerked the microphone up and out of Madoka's reach before she could snatch it away, pushing lightly on the shorter girl's head to keep it out of her reach. Laughing, she barely even noticed a quick movement from the first contestant before the microphone was snatched out of her hand.

Madoka and Liliana yelled something the crowd couldn't quite make out while Yuuna stuck her tongue out and took the microphone back. "Okay," she said, holding the microphone up and grinning while the crowd laughed, "I'll get to the point. Anyway! You no doubt know her as the 'do-anything-but-sing~' member of Mahora's own Dekopin Rocket, Kugimiya Madoka!" Yuuna said, swiftly drowned out by the roar of the crowd, mostly locals who had seen or at least heard of the band at some point in the past six years.

Yuuna waited for the commotion to die down before stepping back to the edge of the tournament stage. "Each match will have a time limit of ten minutes! Defeat will be determined by being down for a ten-count, going out of the ring for ten seconds, giving up, or for any reason being unable to continue the match! In the event of a tie, the decision will be handed down to the audience. Also, no weapons or choke holds allowed! Other than that, anything goes! Are the participants ready?" she asked, looking from Liliana to Madoka and receiving a nod from each. "Okay, _fight_!"

* * *

><p>Madoka took a few steps forward, watching Liliana's every move and nodding her approval. "You've gotten a lot better from the time we first met."<p>

Liliana smiled, her eyes bright. "That's right. You've taught me a lot, Madoka-sensei, and I'm thankful for it. But I'm a lot stronger than I used to be; I won't go easy on you!" Liliana said, darting forward.

Madoka slipped aside and took a swing that hit empty air. Liliana snagged her arm before she could recover and performed a classic hip toss, throwing Madoka hard to the stage floor, unfortunately losing her grip on the woman. She went for an arm bar, but Madoka shoved her back and worked her leg up and around Liliana's head, forcing it back while she went for her own arm bar.

"Owowowowow!"

* * *

><p>"Oh, looks like Madoka-chan has grown a lot since her middle school days," Albireo said as he watched the woman square off against Liliana on the fighting stage.<p>

Eva set down her tea cup and leaned over to look at the display Al had created. He had invited her here to his underground castle beneath Library Island in order to watch the tournament, a tradition begun several years before when Eva grew too annoyed with the huge crowds aboveground, which had only grown each year. Sometimes the headmaster attended as well, but this year he had begged off to take care of some last minute problems with a small cloth golem in the shape of a 'skinned man', who was apparently running around the middle school at night and scaring the maintenance and security crews. Eva had just grinned when she heard the news.

"Hmph," was Eva's reply to Al.

"Now now, you aren't still angry that she refused your training, are you?" Al replied, eyes alight as he paused to watch the match while Eva sent a glare in his general direction before picking up her teacup again. The match was over by the time she had raised his teacup to her lips.

"I can't believe she went with Ku Fei and Sakurazaki Setsuna instead of me; _me_!" she said after she had taken a slip, smacking a hand to her chest and spilling some of her tea. "I could've made her into a _monster_ of a fighter! Stupid little girl, doesn't know what's good for her..." she grumbled, sitting back as the fire went back out of her. Truly, Kugimiya Madoka's refusal of her extremely rare offer of training had been extremely galling. She knew what it was; she had been getting too soft, spending too much time with The Boy and not acting like the magnificently evil true blood high daylight walker that she was. She had only ever trained two or three others before meeting The Boy, and the last had been well over a century ago. Then she meets up with...with _his_ son and goes all soft...disgusting. Utterly disgusting. True, the sheer number of people with high potential around The Boy was insane, not to mention the fact that the mere thought of all those powerful, young, and above all _impressionable _girls made her all but salivate as she considered which would be the best followers for her, but...but that didn't mean she should offer to train people left and right! She had Misa to train, and one was enough...! ...even if she did let the others use her resort all the time and actually only upgraded it because of the training possibilities inherent in having dozens of different environments to train in just a short walk away, along with the fact that The Boy had asked her to do some of it...while smiling at her...with that face that looked so much like _his_...

"It was just to keep them out of my hair!" she declared to Al, who, having not been party to Eva's internal rambling about trainees and a certain red headed teacher, quirked an eyebrow and let his ever present smirk grow slightly as he watched her.

"Is that so?" he asked, smirking at her.

Eva just glared.

* * *

><p>Yuuna blinked a few times and looked at the timekeeper, who shook his head in exasperation. Yuuna brought the microphone up. "A-and that was our first match! C-congratulations Kugimiya Madoka!" she said. To be honest, she was quite annoyed. Didn't Madoka have any sense of showmanship? Honestly! Ending <em>the first match of the most anticipated tournament all year<em> in just nine seconds...she sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose while said winner helped Liliana, who was clutching at her elbow, climb down out of the ring.

Yuuna waited until they were gone and the next contestants had made their way out to the fighting stage before she once again raised the microphone to her lips. 'Well, let's hope this one lasts a little longer than the last one,' she thought when the introductions were over and the two contestants, her missing (but confirmed alive) student Possum Cade's big sister Lucy and her old classmate Narutaki Fumika went at it.

* * *

><p>"Ah, you got me again, sempai," Liliana said, wincing while a nurse tended to her sore elbow.<p>

Madoka smiled crookedly as she looked at the girl she had had a hand in training for the last two and a half years seated on the edge of an examination table in the temporary nurse's station set up to tend to injuries suffered by the participants in today's tournament. "I guess I've been a little too lax in my teaching, haven't I?" Beside Liliana, Madoka's other trainee, the mute girl Nelle, nodded at her in response to the remark about Madoka's lack of teaching ability, and Madoka heaved a sigh. "Guess I'll have to make that up to you two, huh?"

Madoka and Nelle stood there quietly watching while the nurse provided Liliana with an ice pack and instructions on what to do with her elbow for the next few weeks, and then left them alone to check up on a man who had badly bruised his leg when he fell from the bleachers in the pre-match excitement.

When they were alone again, Madoka eyed the ice pack Liliana held on her elbow for a moment. "Sorry about the elbow, I didn't mean to pull that hard..."

Liliana rolled her eyes and gave Madoka a look that simply _screamed _'You're an idiot.' "It'll get better. The nurse said it's only a minor case, since I tapped out so fast." She kept looking at Madoka.

Madoka sighed and rubbed her forehead while Liliana gave her a blank stare. "Okay, how am I going to have to make this up to you?"

"Convince Negi to take me with him to the magic world this summer," Liliana replied instantly.

Madoka cocked an eyebrow and glanced over at Nelle, who was smiling at her, then back to Liliana. "Both of you, huh?" They nodded, and she sighed again. "It'll be dangerous, you know? That place isn't like Earth."

The two of them nodded. "We know," Liliana added. "We're not stupid, sempai."

Madoka heaved yet another long-suffering sigh. "All right, I'll talk to him about it. But you two have to start coming to Eva's resort to toughen up! I can't believe you went down in ten seconds, Liliana," she said, scolding the younger girl.

"Well yeah, I mean I was fighting _you_. At least I lasted longer than any of your regular opponents, Miss 'Ace of Spades'."

Madoka groaned.

* * *

><p>The crowd let out a simultaneous "Oooh!" as Fumika, hurt and winded and on her last leg, threw one last desperation punch. Lucy, already recognizing that she couldn't get out of the way of the attack in her current condition, simultaneously started her own punch that whipped over Fumika's. Both fists landed at the same instant with a devastating impact, resulting in both fighters collapsing to the ground.<p>

"Ooh! C-cross counter...!" Yuuna shouted into the microphone, her free hand clenched in a fist and fire in her eyes as she shot up out of her seat, like most of the audience at this point. "I've never seen such a devastating example! Who will win? Who will lose? _Who will drag their bloody, beaten body up before the ten count is over? Who, I ask? Who? __Who__? __**WHO**__?_" she demanded while the crowd roared in excitement over the tremendously exciting match.

For a good five seconds, neither combatant moved. By the time the counter reached seven, however, Lucy had pushed herself up on her hands and knees, obviously favoring her left arm, and by the time the ten count was over, Fumika was still lying on the ground, out cold. Lucy stayed up just long enough for the match to end, and collapsed again, this time falling unconscious as well.

On the heels of this triumphant example of a real crowd-pleaser of a match, Yuuna called out the next competitors, the unknown masked fighter 'El Buho', and a Mahora local and regular tournament participant Daigouin. The timekeeper rang the bell to start the match, Daigouin did some fancy flips and spins and martial arts moves in an attempt to show off to the young female masked fighter opposite, when said young female masked fighter abruptly ran toward him and performed a quite nice dropkick, launching him off the edge of the fighting stage. By the time he climbed back up, she was waiting for him, did some spinny-flippy thing Yuuna couldn't even begin to name, and half a second later had Daigouin face down on the fighting stage in an ankle lock.

"I...will not...surrender...!" Daigouin ground out between clenched teeth, trying to fight back the pain. The masked girl twisted his ankle a little harder. "OW OW OW I GIVE UP I GIVE UP OWWW!"

Yuuna smacked her forehead into the tabletop in front of her. Fifteen seconds! Fifteen freaking seconds! She stood up with her microphone. "And there you have it! The winner of the third match of the first round is the mysterious masked fighter El Buho!" She trotted up to the masked fighter before she could leave and blocked her way. "How about a word from our winner?" she asked, then shoved the microphone into the masked girl's face.

The masked girl looked around nervously, her eyes darting around as she tried to find a way out, and hesitantly began to speak. "I...I-" She froze up when Yuuna's eyes suddenly sharpened in recognition of her voice, and she slipped around the announcer, running back to the backstage area before Yuuna could catch her.

Yuuna, for her part, rolled her eyes. 'I think I can feel a headache coming on,' she thought bitterly as she trotted back to the middle of the fighting stage and announced the next pair of fighters.

* * *

><p>The fourth fight was nothing like the previous three. The participants, a big, dangerous looking man named Rex faced off against the girls' middle school janitor Margaret Gunther, a woman Yuuna knew well due to the woman's placement by the American Division soon after Max and Jennifer's abandonment of their previous magic association. Because of this, Yuuna figured the odds were in Margaret's favor, no matter how dangerous Rex looked.<p>

It was a bloodbath.

Margaret, unable to land even a single hit, was beaten mercilessly, and it took Yuuna herself climbing up onto the fighting stage to get Rex to stop. He smirked and spat on Margaret's still, badly beaten form, performed an obscene gesture in the general direction of the crowd, and strode away to the backstage area without a care in the world.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure that was wise?" a man wearing a set of fake fox ears asked when Rex returned to the space designated for him after he had won his spot in the tournament.<p>

Rex snorted. "Does it matter? They're just humans; they don't even know what they're seeing. And besides, Masashi said I can do anything I want as long as it doesn't interfere with his plans." He sat down and unwrapped his fists. "But anyway, she'll live," he added as an aside.

The other man's 'fake' fox ears twitched. "You're attracting too much attention; Masashi isn't going to like this..."

* * *

><p>The crowd's mood, subdued after the sheer brutality of the previous match, was beginning to worry Yuuna. Luckily the next match, between Misora's pactio partner Cocone, now grown into a beautiful, exotic young woman, and a foreigner who went simply by the single name 'Cort', was a tremendous spectacle of a match, full of daredevil acrobatics, brutal power, and a pure love of combat on the part of both fighters that was blatantly obvious to the crowd. When Cocone ultimately emerged the victor just after the nine minute mark, the crowd went wild and it seemed, to Yuuna, that things had gotten back under control.<p>

Then came the sixth match of the first round.

* * *

><p>"And in this corner we have Narutaki Fuuka. This athletic young woman has spent the last six years training under the knowing eyes of a former champion of this very tournament, Nagase Kaede!" Yuuna waited, grinning, until the cheering died down and Fuuka stopped posing for the crowd before turning to the other contestant. "And on this side, all the way from Hokkaido, we have the mysterious aloof beauty Kakizaki Hatsune! Nothing is known about her skills or who she may have trained under, but as she showed in the qualifying round she is not to be taken lightly!"<p>

Little did Yuuna know just how right she was.

As Fuuka eyed the strange woman facing her, she decided she sort of resembled one of her friends, Kakizaki Misa. 'Same last name...I bet she's her sister. Maybe I should go easy on her,' she thought, grinning as she eased into a stance. Much to her surprise, the other woman failed to respond in kind and simply stood there, watching, with her arms hanging loose at her sides. 'Isn't she even going to try to defend herself...?'

Disturbed, Fuuka decided to try and see if a little maneuvering would get the woman to react. She began to circle, but the woman's only response was to turn smoothly to remain facing her, her eyes focused on Fuuka's every movement.

"Hu~" Fuuka grinned wide at the woman as she shifted into a more comfortable stance in preparation for her first attack. "You're going to have to do something if you don't want to get beaten~"

The woman's lips twitched, as if she was holding back a smile. "Don't worry about me."

"I warned you!" Fuuka said as she rushed forward with a vicious kick to the midsection that would have dropped just about anyone...had it connected. Fuuka quickly darted away out of reach as she tried to figure out what had just happened. 'She was standing there, not even moving, even to the point where I could have sworn I was about to connect...she dodged? Light on her feet, huh? I guess I'll have to bring out the big guns...' She stood back, struck a fancy ninja pose she had seen once in a movie, and cried out "Waaaah, hi-yah...!" as she launched herself at the other woman. Her first attack, a straight jab to the stomach, was batted aside, as was the followup hook to the face and even the knee to the gut. When she tried for a trip, the next thing she knew she was flat on her back, looking up at the woman looking down at her. Something in the woman's mild almost-neutral expression was really starting to get on her nerves; it took a moment, but once she had recognized it, the very _idea _of someone, _anyone_, dismissing her as a non-threat, after all her years of training and the effort she had put into it, was insulting in the extreme. Not only was she being dismissed, but as the student of her best friend Kaede, Kaede was being insulted as well, and she didn't like it. Not one bit.

For the first time in a long time, Fuuka began to get angry. She clenched her teeth and climbed back to her feet. If there was one thing Fuuka was proud of, it was the skills she had learned training under Kaede, who was even now standing in the audience with her arms crossed and a carefully neutral expression on her face. Fuuka clenched her fists. It was time to show this woman just what it meant to underestimate a student of Nagase Kaede...!

"It seems as if you are finally serious," the woman said, watching her. "Good. Let's end this."

Fuuka didn't even have a chance to reply before the woman charged at her, down low. Fuuka leaped to meet her, knee first. What happened next was so utterly unexpected that Fuuka had no time to react.

Hatsune, coming in low and fast, ducked lower still, lower than Fuuka thought possible for someone so tall, and bobbed back up under Fuuka's knee, grabbed hold around Fuuka's upper thighs and, still running and taking Fuuka, never a heavy person, with her, raised up to her full height, almost six feet, jumped, and dove down toward the surface of the fighting stage, positioning Fuuka to take the full impact on her back and shoulders.

The impact was horrific; Fuuka, unable to do anything to defend herself due to the sheer speed and unconventional nature of the other woman's attack, folded up like an accordion as the entirety of Hatsune's weight rocketed into her torso. Hatsune used the momentum of the unusual technique to roll back to her feet, facing her opponent. A needless action, as Fuuka lay, arms and legs flung out, utterly still but for the rise and fall of her chest. Hatsune waited for the ten count and, when the match was declared over, climbed down from the fighting stage and walked to the back without a single look back at the woman she had left unconscious on the fighting stage.

* * *

><p>Fuuka opened her eyes some time later, her head still ringing from its impact with the fighting stage, and promptly closed them again, groaning.<p>

"Welcome back," someone said softly from somewhere nearby. "How do you feel?"

"Kaede-nee...?" Fuuka asked.

"I'm here too..." A worried voice; Fumika must have been watching the fight on one of the monitors in the recovery area; Fuuka and Kaede had been sitting with her until it was time for Fuuka's own match.

Fuuka eased her eyes open and tried to move into a more comfortable position on her cot. "Ow."

"Oh ho, looks like you'll be fine," Kaede said.

Fuuka remained quiet for a moment, listening to the sound of the crowd outside waiting for the next match to start. "I underestimated her; I'm sorry I lost..." she said, looking up at the ceiling. She knew better than to make excuses, and she had most definitely underestimated her opponent. The woman's fighting methods had been astonishingly swift and unorthodox to the highest degree...it was no wonder she'd lost. It was still embarrassing, though, especially after how awesome Fumika's match had been.

"You'll do better next time," Kaede said, smiling crookedly.

* * *

><p>Yuuna was jumpy. After the brutal match that had left her old friend and classmate Narutaki Fuuka unconscious on the fighting stage, she had just about had enough of fighting tournaments for the day. Still, she was getting paid to work the crowd, and paid handsomely at that... The tech passed her a piece of paper with instructions for the next match, and she quickly scanned over them. 'Okay, there are just two matches left in the first round; almost half the fighters are already eliminated. It won't be much longer...I just have to hold it together until the break.' She took a deep breath and shook her head to clear it, took up her microphone, and stood up to introduce the next two fighters.<p>

"Coming from the Girls' Middle School, our next two fighters are friends in the same class! First, we have the class representative of Class 2-A, Nakamura Sachiko! Give her a hand, everybody!" Yuuna's exuberance was starting to have an effect on the crowd, so she kept going. "And facing her, a girl whose presence on the streets has halved the crime rate and nearly put the police out of a job," she paused at this point while most of the crowd laughed, "The Street Sweeper, Urashima Taro!"

* * *

><p>Taro walked out, dressed in an unusual getup involving bluejean shorts, a white headband, and a ridiculous short black shirt and short white jacket combo, trying not to look at the huge crowd as she walked up to the fighting stage in her ridiculous getup, where Sachiko was already waiting, oddly enough wearing her school uniform. Taro climbed up without difficulty and made her way to her corner while that crazy Yuuna woman who often spent time acting as Possum's trainer winked at her, made a few comments to get the crowd fired up, and climbed down out of the way.<p>

The match started, and Taro took a few steps forward, eying Sachiko warily. Out of all the people she had faced, Sachiko had consistently given her the most trouble; she had yet to defeat the girl in a real match...even Asuna-sempai sometimes had trouble against Sachiko! The root of this, Taro knew, was Sachiko's unusual fighting style. An offshoot of Capoeira, it involved lots of spinning, lots of kicks, knee strikes, and the occasional elbow strike, and was hard as hell to predict; Taro never failed to be surprised by the kick that came from down on the outside when she had expected a kick up and on the inside. She knew if she wanted to win this, she'd have to calm down and _think _rather than act on instinct like she usually did. Taro took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves and tried to ignore the crowd, many members of which were screaming her name. "Hey Sachiko."

Sachiko nodded at her. "Taro-san."

How the heck was Sachiko so calm? Taro's heart was beating a mile a minute, but Sachiko was just standing over there, looking almost like she was just standing up in front of the class instead of in front of several thousand screaming strangers.

"Should we start?" Sachiko asked in a tone that to any mere acquaintance would have sounded bored and devoid of emotion but which to Taro, who had trained alongside her for so long, seemed to be _dripping_ with amusement.

"Whenever you're ready," she said, easily falling into the seemingly lazy stance she was famous for. While to the average person it wouldn't even register as anything but a somewhat lazy slouch, to those few who had knowledge of the ancient Urashima-ryu style of close combat, it was the sort of thing that could make a person want to run and hide.

Sachiko's almost invisible smile widened slightly, and she shot forward, ducked down as she came close, and Taro caught a quick flash of white from the tennis shoes she was wearing as a kick came rocketing toward her shoulder. A quick jerk of her body took Taro out of danger, but Sachiko was already out of range by the time she was in position for an attack of her own. The crowd exploded in excitement as the two of them stood watching each other.

Taro couldn't help but make a toothy grin.

Sachiko's smile widened a little more.

The two of the darted toward each other again.

* * *

><p>"Ooh, that was a close one," Al said, peering at the display. "Wasn't it, Kitty?"<p>

"Call me that again and I'll kill you," Eva said absently as she watched the screen, mentally picking apart each competitor's fighting style to better instruct them later, even though Negi was officially their trainer. She grumbled something under her breath about stupid trainees and glared at the image. "Nakamura is just playing; if she had been seriously trying to win, she would have gone for a kill shot from the beginning...she would have gotten it, too. Urashima doesn't even know the danger she's in," she said dismissively.

Al raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Sachiko-chan would win? You certainly seem confident; why?"

Eva gave him a deadpan look. "Killer instinct, idiot."

Al grinned like a parent indulging a child, a smile carefully calculated to annoy his guest. "But surely you have noticed Taro-kun's potential, haven't you?"

Eva sat back in her chair and propped her feet up on Al's table as she crossed her arms. "It's not as if she's ever going to learn to tap into it; she's an idiot. Nakamura isn't; I think the winner of this match is obvious."

Al's grin widened further. "I see. Would you like to...make a bet?"

Eva's eyebrow twitched. "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

><p>Several minutes had passed, and Taro was starting to get desperate. No matter what she tried, Sachiko had an answer for it. The other girl had even landed several hits already, though none of them had been good ones. Taro hadn't made contact even once.<p>

_Taro-kun._

The voice's intrusion into her thoughts was so completely unexpected that Taro tripped over her own two feet as she tried to dodge one of Sachiko's attacks and barely managed to stay upright, while Sachiko gave her an odd look.

_I must say, that was amusing. Now, if you don't mind not playing the clown...? Good. Close your mouth, don't speak; you'll just look crazy. I am speaking directly into your mind with a certain spell; don't worry, the specifics do not matter. What matters is you and your unusual ki..._

* * *

><p><em>Nakamura! Listen up and listen good! I hereby ORDER you to win this match! If not, you will suffer the most humiliating punishment I can imagine. <em>

Sachiko's eyes widened slightly and her throat went dry as she recognized Eva's voice in her head.

_Now listen up. If you lose, you will be forced to work in a maid cafe downtown all day tomorrow, and that will be the very LEAST of your worries. If you win, well...you won't. Understand? _

Sachiko nodded.

_Good. Now win._

* * *

><p>Eva sat back and made herself comfortable in her chair, surreptitiously watching Al as he lounged in his own chair. He noticed her looking and waved in a teasing manner. She glared and turned her gaze back to the screen, which currently showed the two combatants standing in the ring, staring at each other but otherwise not moving.<p>

'Bastard; he's cheating,' she thought reproachfully; Al just couldn't help himself when it came to giving young girls help telepathically, the...cheating...cheater...! Cheating was _her_ right, not his! 'Stupid bet...' She knew she shouldn't have made that bet with Al... 'Stupid pride.' He had been playing her from the very beginning; she should have known. There was no way, _no way _she was going to dress up in a skimpy cat costume tomorrow and crawl around like a kitten during the last day event with everyone watching...! No way in hell. _NO. WAY. IN. HELL. _"Come on Nakamura, kick her ass!"

* * *

><p>Urashima Taro was, to put it simply, quite confused. Ki vortexes? What the heck was a ki vortex? Asuna-sempai hadn't mentioned anything about that...! And all that stuff about magic blood or something was just weird, not to mention that whole thing about enforcing one's will upon the world. She was so wrapped up in what the weird voice in her head was telling her that she didn't even realize Sachiko had moved until she caught the other girl's shoe with her face, utterly unprepared.<p>

She went down like a ton of bricks.

* * *

><p>Al simply sat back and smirked slightly while Eva pointed and laughed and taunted him about his end of the bet. He calmly took a sip of his tea. To be completely honest, he didn't really care about the results of the bet. If Eva lost, he could tease her about the costume she would have to wear; if Eva won, he could freak her out with the costume <em>he<em> would be forced to wear. It was a win-win situation. He grinned mysteriously at her again. 'Savor that feeling, Evangeline~' he thought to himself, and couldn't help but let out an amused little 'heh'.

* * *

><p>The crowd was getting restless by the time the fighting stage was cleaned up and ready for the next match; Yuuna was just glad that the upcoming match was the final one of the first round, marking the middle of the tournament...it was all downhill from here.<p>

Yuuna took up her microphone yet again, swigged half a bottle of water, and again climbed up on stage, noticeably lacking the sheer pep she had displayed in the beginning. She raised the microphone.

"Okay everybody, next up is the final match of the first round! First up we have the newest teacher at Mahora Girls' Middle School, Sasaki Makie! Everyone give her a hand!" Yuuna said, clapping as Makie came out to the stage, wearing a form fitting shorts and shirt combo designed for ease of movement. She climbed up onto the fighting stage with ease and beamed at the crowd, waving.

When the crowd had quieted down, Yuuna again raised the microphone. "And facing Sasaki-sensei," Yuuna said, barely managing to hold back a giggle at the bizarre thought of _anyone_ calling _Makie_ of all people 'sensei', "the successful young businesswoman who owns that delightful eatery Natsumi's Diner, down on the square just past the theater, Yukihiro Ayaka!"

Ayaka strode purposely down to the fighting stage in the sort of clothing she usually wore during training: black shorts and a light shirt, along with knee, wrist, and elbow protection and a pair of short black boots.

Yuuna climbed down from the stage and the match began. Ayaka and Makie both began circling, each trying a feint or two in order to draw the other out, but neither woman fell for it.

"You've gotten good; I'm glad you're paying attention to your lessons," Ayaka said.

Makie smiled. "It's all thanks to the training from you and the others, Ayaka! I'll do my best to be able to go with Negi-kun this summer."

Ayaka smiled slightly and nodded. "I'll look forward to seeing the sort of supporter you become," she said, darting forward and aiming a kick at the side of Makie's head. Makie cartwheeled aside, but Ayaka was right behind her, grabbed her around the middle, lifted the smaller woman high in the air and slammed her down to the ground. Makie let out a pained grunt at the impact, but squirmed out of Ayaka's grip before she could capitalize, and dropkicked her as she got to her feet. It wasn't exactly on target, but it did leave her staggering for a moment, so Makie backed up to open some space, and ran at Ayaka. She jumped, did a handstand on Ayaka's shoulders, and dropped down so she was riding on Ayaka's shoulders from behind before Ayaka could shake her off.

Ayaka staggered under the other girl's unexpected weight, barely managing to stay upright. "What in the-" Her question was cut off when Makie's legs tightened around her head and the ex-gymnast flipped backwards, taking Ayaka with her. The only thing that saved Ayaka from a knockout blow to the head was a last minute twist, a desperate, instinctive sideways jerk that, while clumsy and severely lacking in style, was nonetheless effective in keeping her from getting a concussion and losing the match right then and there.

Ayaka and Makie were up almost in the same instant, rapidly backing out of each others' reach.

"You really _are_ getting good," Ayaka said, suddenly seeing Makie in a whole new light. The Makie of two or even three years ago, back when she was still training hard, would never have been capable of such a thing.

Makie grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Heheh, well..."

Ayaka smiled and closed her eyes. "I can see I will have to take this match seriously..." When she opened her eyes again, they were harder, sharper, and Makie began to get nervous. "I'm sorry Makie, but you're too dangerous. _I'm_ going to be the one to win the prize!"

Ayaka darted forward as she spoke, and it was all Makie could do to block the flurry of kicks and punches that followed; she was far out of her league, and she knew it.

Ayaka knew she had to give Makie credit; the girl was holding up well, and though there was no question of her avoiding Ayaka's attacks, she was blocking them or turning them aside surprisingly well. 'She must really want to come with us to Mundus Magicus,' Ayaka thought, a warm, friendly feeling running through her. Makie really was trying her best to catch up to the others; Ayaka knew that in addition to taking training from her, Makie had also been seeing Ku Fei, Madoka, and even Max-sensei, and she was quite certain Makie had learned that reverse frankensteiner move from Setsuna...Ayaka had seen Setsuna perform similar moves many times in training or against real opponents. Yes, she really had to give Makie credit...but that didn't mean she was going to let Makie win.

Ayaka slipped through Makie's defense and landed a knee in her gut, and Makie automatically doubled over. Taking the opportunity provided by Makie's diverted attention, Ayaka swiftly moved back to open some space between them in imitation of Makie's earlier actions, waited an instant for Makie to start to stand up straight again, and ran forward. She jumped up, caught an instant of panicked recognition in Makie's eyes as she realized what was about to happen, and landed on Makie's shoulders. While Ayaka was no trained gymnast, her agility was easily on par with Makie's, and her physical strength was much greater, due mainly to the fact that while Makie had neglected training for almost two years due to the disastrous arranged marriage she had been forced into by her mother, Ayaka had never let up, even when her mother had forbidden her from what she called 'frivolous wastes of time'. Ayaka's legs tightened around Makie's head, and she heard the girl let out a yelp as she flipped backward, taking Makie with her.

Makie hit the ground hard on her back and bounced, driving the air from her lungs, and had just barely managed to sit up when Ayaka was on her. With a knee in her back and her arms pulled back painfully, Makie let out a cry and gave up the match.

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

A door marked 'Storage Closet' was kicked open and Eva darted out, eyes wide open and horrified, slammed the door shut, and leaned back against it, as if holding it closed. A second later, someone started banging on the door from the other side.

"You're not coming out!" Eva shouted.

"But Eva-tan~ I look so pretty in my ski~rt~!"

"Gah! I want to rip out my eyes, but then I'd just remember what I saw and...and..." Eva said to herself, shuddering at the memory as she wondered if there was such a thing as bleach to remove unwanted stains from the brain.

"But I jush wanna come out an' give you a wittle huggy-wuggy Eva-tan~"

"No!"

"Puh-_wease_?"

"_HELL _no!"

"You mean you would deprive the world of this beauty, the amazing fit of this uniform shirt and the way this pretty, oh-so-girlish skirt sways when I walk?"

She could almost _see _ it. Eva shuddered, much more strongly this time. _"Hell_ yes!"

"You're so me~an to me, Eva-tan~"

"Damn it Al, if you don't take off that uniform _this instant_ I'm _never_ letting you out!"

"B-but we barely know each other~! You're so forceful, Eva-tan~"

"_I'm gonna kill you, Al!"_

"Oh _my~_"

"GRAAHHH...!"

"Um...master...?" Chachamaru said, having been attracted by all the banging on walls, yelling, and loud threats of violent murder. "Why are you holding the door of that storage closet closed? And why do you look as if the weight of all your years of doing evil has finally come back to haunt you? What are you hiding behind that door?"

Eva looked at her, eyes wide and unseeing and her face locked in a rictus of horror as she recalled the terrifying sight. "Behind this door are things no mortal man should ever see; horrors far beyond the likes of Cthulu."

"Is Chacha-tan out there? _Kyaa~_ What should I do~?" Al said on the other side of the door, no doubt squirming as he did.

Chachamaru's eyes widened and Eva shuddered again. "J-just...go. Save yourself," Eva said in an uncharacteristic display of self sacrifice, possibly the first in her long, long life. She snapped her head up and caught Chachamaru's worried gaze. "Go! I won't give you a chance like this again!" Chachamaru, wishing to preserve her sanity functions, swiftly left Eva to her fate.

"Eva-tan~"

"Damn it Al, if you don't take off that school uniform..."

"Oh _my_, aren't you a scary one, little Eva-tan~"

"_DAMN IT AL_!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Yes, Hatsune performed a running powerbomb on Fuuka, El Buho's a luchadore, and Ayaka and Makie pulled off several moves commonly found in pro wrestling._

_Also, in case you didn't realize it, in the match between Taro and Sachiko, Taro is wearing the same costume as Subaru Nakajima (from season 3 of Nanoha), the character she was most closely based on, design-wise. If you look up a picture of Subaru, you'll know about what Taro looks like._


	13. Ch 10 Festival Second Day pt 3 Round 2

Ako took another sip of her drink and picked up her cell phone. "Hello?"

_'A-Ako-san? It's ah...it's me. Rale. Remember me?'_ the boy said tentatively.

Ako instantly smiled. She did indeed remember Rale; they had had a lunch date only the day before. He was just so young and lonely-seeming that she just couldn't leave him alone... His sheer awkwardness was adorable, too. "Of course I remember you, Rale-kun. How are you?"

'_I-I'm fine. Um. I c-called because...um...would you...would you...'_

Ako smiled softly. "Would you like to go out for lunch again today, Rale-kun?" However, instead of the joyful reaction she had gotten last time, Rale was silent for a long, long moment. She listened for a moment, wondering if her cell phone had lost its connection, when he spoke up again.

_'Yes...I...I would. Um. The same place as last time?'_

"That's fine," Ako replied, curious about the boy's strange pause. Was someone over there telling him what to say...?

'_Thank you, Ako-san,'_ he said, sounding almost sad as he hung up.

Ako looked at her phone for a moment, lost in thought. Was someone picking on the boy? She hadn't liked the look of some of the people she had seen him with the other day...none of them had come close enough to her for her to make out any details and none of them had done anything to Rale-kun that she had seen, but still...she didn't like them. There weren't many people she disliked, especially on first sight, but that group was definitely among them.

In any case, lunch. Belatedly realizing she hadn't set up a time for the meeting, she tried calling back, but only got a message that Rale-kun's cell phone was either out of range or turned off. She stood up from the small outdoor cafe table, threw out her trash, and headed for Misa's apartment, where she usually stayed in the spare bedroom. She had a lunch date, after all; she had to get ready.

* * *

><p><em>Why won't he stay down?<em>

El Buho, the slim young masked woman who fought with a style somewhere between Lucha Libre and what one might find in MMA, stood back, panting, as her opponent stood up straight and shook his head to clear it before turning to look at her, grinning toothily to show the gap created by the tooth she had just knocked out.

"No one's hit me that hard in a long time," Rex said, cracking his knuckles as he took a step forward. El Buho stumbled back, tired and sore from the long, long match. She had known the man was dangerous, especially after what he had done in the first round against Miss Margaret, the janitor from school, but she had had no idea what sort of fear he could inspire just by standing ten feet away and _grinning_. Already she had hit him with knockout blow after knockout blow, but it had barely slowed him down and she was too terrified to close the gap between them long enough to attempt to lock in a submission hold. He had landed one glancing blow on her, early in the match, and it had left her gasping for breath, wondering if he had broken one of her ribs; even now her chest hurt whenever she made a quick movement.

To be honest, she was content to stay out of harm's way, but he kept forcing the issue by slowly advancing to close the gap and bring her into reach; the man was a master of footwork and strategy, and he was pushing her to her utmost limits just to stay out of his range. She had seen what he did to the janitor; she had no misconceptions what he would do to her if he got the chance. He made an odd little jigging motion to the side as he came on, and she moved to stay out of his range, only to find herself hanging halfway over the edge of the fighting stage. She barely had time to regain her balance, much less register the fact that he had tricked her before he lunged forward, intending to grapple with her.

She couldn't have that; he had a good foot and a half on her and was twice as wide...well over two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle. If he got his hands on her, it would all be over. He was too close and coming closer, so she did the only thing she could think of: she ran toward him, ducked a punch that skimmed the edge of her mask and almost ripped it off, and ran straight into a spinning kick. She reacted just quickly enough to avoid the full force of the blow, but even the glancing impact knocked her sprawling. Rex immediately moved to capitalize, and El Buho, with no time left to climb to her feet, took a page out of the class rep Nakamura Sachiko's book and pushed up off the ground, spinning around and kicking Rex's legs out from under him; at that moment, the utterly shocked expression on his face as he went down like a ton of bricks was the most delicious thing El Buho had ever seen. Even as he was falling, she shot to her feet, favoring her bruised ribs, kneed him hard in the head as he tried to get back to his feet, and quickly got behind him, where she buried a knee in his back, grabbed his arms by the wrists, and pulled back as hard as she could.

Rex let out a roar that startled her so much she almost let go as he strained to get loose, but she tightened her grip before he could capitalize and leaned back as she pulled. He yelled again, this time in pain as his arms were nearly ripped from their sockets, and she pulled harder still, her whole torso in agony from the two hits she had taken, and then people were swarming around and the match was over and as she let go of his arms, she realized in a daze that she had somehow done it, she had won against a grown man three times her size who had, in the first round not long ago, beaten a notably tough woman half to death. Her legs were shaking so bad she had to be supported by one of the techs on her way back to the nurse's station, but it didn't matter; she had _won_.

* * *

><p>"Wow, <em>that<em> was impressive...!" Misa said as she sat next to Madoka in the space assigned to her in the backstage area.

"Any idea who she is, yet?" Madoka asked, referring to the masked fighter. Misa shook her head. This 'El Buho' was insanely familiar to both of them, but neither one could put a name to the girl; she was obviously fairly young, extremely agile if not exactly an athlete, and had shied away from every attempt at an interview by the promoters thus far. "He'll be sore tomorrow, at least," Madoka said, nodding at the screen, which showed Yuuna climbing up into the ring with a microphone in hand while several others helped Rex to his feet, since he could barely move his arms.

Misa laughed lightly. "Konoka will fix him up; he's some kind of youkai, you know. Anyway, it's a shame about Lucy; I know you were looking forward to it," she said, referring to the girl who, had she not been hurt in her first round match against Fumika, would have faced Madoka in the second round. As it was, Madoka had been given a bye and was automatically allowed to proceed to the third round without having a match.

"Yeah...I kind of wanted to fight her again," Madoka said. The first time the two had met, Lucy had been under the influence of that vampire, Jonus Hart, who had gone to such great lengths to attack the city, a choice that, in reality, made little logical sense. After all, what did he think was going to happen after he took over, assuming he was able to? The country of Japan in the twenty first century was no place for a feudal lord, much less one who drank the blood of his vassals. In any case, he had been, if not captured, at the very least brutally beaten and forced to run away. And Lucy, after going all out against Madoka while under his control, had eventually burned off whatever force had been connecting her with the vampire as the two of them fought. It had been the first serious fight Madoka had had in a long, long time: matches with Kotarou or Negi or Ku Fei didn't really count since even at their most dangerous, they were still friendly matches, and the usual crazy person that showed up so often in Mahora couldn't take more than a couple hits before going down. Lucy, albeit powered up by Jonus, had fought her almost to a standstill, and had given her such a fight, especially after burning off the vampire's control, that the memory of it _still_ made Madoka smile. A ringing cell phone interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced over at one of the competitors who had been eliminated in the first round, a big hairy man who had introduced himself as 'Cort', declining to give a family name. He listened to someone speaking for a moment, his expression changing from one of good natured fun to something altogether different, and he flipped his phone shut, quickly gathered his things, and left at a fast walk.

"What was _that_ all about?" Misa said idly when he was gone. Most of the competitors who had already been eliminated had left, but a few, like Cort, had stayed behind to watch the matches; he himself had expressed an interest in staying to the very end. "Weird."

"Yeah," Madoka said idly. They had sat in a companionable silence for a several minutes, content just being in each other's presence, when Misa spoke up again.

"Hey, Madoka?"

"Yeah?" Madoka asked as she checked her hand wrappings.

"...you have to beat my sister, okay?"

Madoka gave her a look. "...look, what's this about? We don't even know if the two of us'll even meet up; she's on the other end of the bracket." The look she gave Misa said it all: _Aren't you planning too far ahead?_

Misa took up Madoka's roll of tape more to keep her hands occupied than anything else and fiddled around with it for a moment before she answered. "Just...don't lose, okay?"

The look on Misa's face was so torn that Madoka decided to just go along with it. "...okay. I promise I won't lose," she said, putting an arm around Misa, who leaned into her for a moment.

"Mm."

"Look, don't worry about me. Just worry about that sister of yours making it to the finals. I'll take care of my end, let her worry about hers."

Misa grinned crookedly and sat up straight again. "Yeah..."

"Don't worry! That's an order," Madoka said, grinning at her.

Misa smirked. "Aye aye, captain."

* * *

><p>"And next up we have the girl who not thirty minutes ago defeated Mahora's own 'Street Sweeper' Urashima Taro, the girls' middle school class rep Nakamura Sachiko!" Yuuna said, waving her arm in the general direction of Sachiko, who blushed slightly at the sudden roar of the crowd, the first sign of embarrassment she had shown thus far in the tournament. After the last few cries of 'We love you Sachiko-sama' died out, Yuuna brought the microphone back up and whipped around to point at Sachiko's opponent. "And her opponent! The mysterious woman from Hokkaido who took out the infamous Narutaki Fuuka-"<p>

* * *

><p>"...infamous?" Fuuka asked, confused as she looked from Fumika to Kaede in the backstage area. Fumika and Kaede looked at each other, clearly trying to hold back laughter and failing miserably.<p>

"Hey! It's not _that_ funny!" Fuuka wailed.

* * *

><p>"-in a single move, Kakizaki Hatsune! Let's go!"<p>

When Yuuna had climbed down off the fighting stage and the match had started, Sachiko took a long, wary look at the tall woman standing opposite. She could often predict a person's physical abilities and even their fighting style just by watching them and paying attention to the way they moved when they walked, the way the stood, the way they noticed little things around them...the woman standing across from her was like a blank slate.

For someone who was so adept at deciphering the fighting styles of other people, it was incredibly disturbing, and Sachiko found herself starting to question everything she had learned about the art of reading people; after all, if the skill she had developed so far that it surpassed even that of the man who had trained her couldn't help against someone like this, then...what use was it?

And, almost as if sensing Sachiko's disquiet, Hatsune...grinned.

It was a small grin, little more than a slight, very slight upward turn at the edges of her lips, and it scared the _hell _out of Sachiko.

Most of those Sachiko had faced up to now could be called, for the sake of simplicity, normal; they took familiar stances, they shifted their weight in the usual way, they moved in the same patterns fighters had used for _centuries_. The were...predictable. This woman, this Kakizaki Hatsune, took everything Sachiko had been taught, everything she had learned on her own, and threw it all out the window, and she hadn't even _moved _yet. She was _terrifying_.

Hatsune's grin turned into a smirk, Sachiko realized she was being dismissed as a competent fighter, and her fight or flight reflex flipped on her and suddenly she was angry; she was more angry than she had been as a child when another kid stole her lunch, she was more angry than she had been when she caught an older cousin talking bad about her grandfather and beat him unconscious, she was more angry than she had been in her previous school when that stupid boy had tricked her into following him into a deserted area where his friends had been waiting to ambush her...she had been on the verge of murder that time, and only the timely intervention of a teacher had kept those boys from severe injuries and long, long hospital stays, and quite possibly something even worse. It was a side of herself that she was ashamed of, that she had always struggled to control, to push back.

And this woman was really starting to _piss her off_.

The woman shifted her weight slightly and Sachiko shot forward, swung a fist that Hatsune easily dodged, and rode the momentum to spin in place, her leg coming up high for what should be a horrific, bone-crushing kick to the face that would have sent Hatsune into emergency surgery...had it connected.

Sachiko, horrified at her attempt to destroy the woman's face, was shocked even further when the kick missed its target; with her heart beating wildly and interweaving waves of hatred of her opponent and horror at what she had just tried to do, she was in no condition to control her own momentum...her foot dragged against the surface of the fighting stage and she overcorrected, lost her balance, and fell in a clumsy heap.

"My my, is it okay for you to be here?" Hatsune asked, her voice dripping with disdain. "Shouldn't you go back home for your afternoon nap, little girl?"

Sachiko shot up, trying to ignore the laughter of the audience, and her vision went red as she saw _that woman_ standing there, smirking at her. She went at her again, but Hatsune slipped aside with an ease that Sachiko's mind simply refused to comprehend. She recovered and went to sweep the woman's legs out from under her, but by the time her kick arrived, its target had shifted aside just enough to cause her to miss.

The scene repeated itself again and again, with Sachiko's attempts becoming more frenzied, more clumsy as the match went on, while Hatsune smirked, bated her with sarcasm, and even laughed at her attempts.

Almost five minutes later, Sachiko was left hunched over, breathless and exhausted, standing on her side of the fighting stage while Hatsune stood straight and tall on the other side, not even slightly winded.

"Hah...How...?" Sachiko managed.

Hatsune's smirk widened. "'How?', you ask? Well...to be honest, I recognized your fighting style. A...singularly _sloppy_ form of capoeira, useful only for showing off in movies or to the inexperienced."

Sachiko let out an enraged scream as she ran toward Hatsune. How _dare_ she insult her master? The _nerve_...! Sachiko spun around, fully intending to kick Hatsune in the throat, but Hatsune easily slipped aside, avoiding the attack entirely, and gave her a slight shove as a parting shot, exactly timed so as to cause Sachiko to again fall in a clumsy heap on the fighting stage.

* * *

><p>Misa gaped at the monitor she was watching with Madoka. What the hell? <em>What the hell<em>? **What the hell?** She turned to look at Madoka and snapped her mouth shut as she saw the expression on her best friend's face.

She hadn't seen that particular expression on Madoka's face in quite a while; not since the incident that had started the whole 'Ace of Spades' thing, in fact. Madoka looked at her, and for a moment Misa was shocked by the anger in her eyes.

"This..." Madoka seemed to want to go on, but instead turned back to the screen, where Hatsune was taunting Sachiko mercilessly while the girl tried to fight her. This was no longer a match; it was a bully picking on someone who could no longer defend themselves. It was obvious Sachiko was exhausted and close to tears, and the brief glimpses they got of her face as she moved showed a hint of something else that neither one had ever seen in the girl's expression before: fear.

* * *

><p>Hatsune looked dispassionately at the exhausted girl in front of her. She was obviously struggling even to stand up...she almost pitied her. "Well?" she asked. "Is that it? Are you done yet? Does your resolve only go that far?" The girl looked up at her, fear in her eyes, and Hatsune sighed. "Guess so." She stepped forward and buried her fist in Sachiko's stomach before the girl even realized she had moved; Hatsune stepped back, spun around and slammed her leg down over Sachiko's back as she doubled over with all the force she could muster. Sachiko hit the ground with a sharp, echoing bark, rolled over on her side and curled up, and laid still.<p>

For her part, Hatsune stepped back and waited for the announcer to declare the match over, then climbed down and headed for the back room without looking back at the poor broken girl lying motionless on the fighting stage. She ignored the shocked and horrified expressions of the audience members as she went by, but she paused when her little sister stepped into the entryway to the waiting area, blocking it.

"Hatsune!" Misa said, her voice quivering with rage. "What the hell was _that_? She's just a _kid_!"

Hatsune fixed her with a glare, but when Misa refused to back down, Hatsune easily pushed past her and paused, looking back over her shoulder. "I'm the 'bad guy' in this little farce, correct? Come here to your pretty little town to carry you away against your will? Then I will play the part I have been given, _little sister_, and I will play it _well_."

She walked back to her assigned area, easily ignoring the glares she could feel from Misa and quite a few of the other people backstage. This place was starting to aggravate her... Once settled in, she took up her copy of the tournament bracket and scribbled out Sachiko's name. There was only one more match left in the second round; the semifinals were next. She took a drink from a water bottle and settled back comfortably to wait.

* * *

><p>When the fighting stage was cleaned up and ready for the next match, the next two contestants came out and stood across from each other while Yuuna introduced them. When the match started, the two stood there for a moment.<p>

"Cocone," Ayaka said by way of greeting.

"Ayaka," Cocone replied, her voice low and deep for a girl.

"I won't lose."

"Neither will I."

Ayaka smiled slightly, and Cocone replied in kind, and they went at it.

* * *

><p>Ako, dressed in a cute t-shirt and jeans, made her way to the world tree plaza and paused for a moment, looking around for Rale. She was a little troubled; something had seemed...<em>off<em>...when she spoke to him earlier on the phone. 'I hope he isn't getting sick...,' she thought, clutching her bag. She looked around for another minute or two before deciding to sit down on a bench to wait. She had just checked her cell phone for the time when she spotted Rale walking stiffly out of an alleyway, straight toward her with an oddly worried expression on his face. She cocked her head to the side slightly as he walked up, took her hand as she stood up, and promptly set off into the city at a brisk pace, pulling her along behind him.

"U-um, hello, Rale-kun...are you alright?" she asked as she struggled to keep up with his lanky form as he strode along.

Rale's whole body jerked and he looked back at her guiltily, though she couldn't tell what he might be feeling guilty about. "No, I'm just...I'm fine. Um..." he said, pausing beside a clothing store. "I, ah...where do you live, Ako-san?"

Ako blinked at him a couple times, her brain trying to get itself going again and only succeeding after her mouth, that treacherous fiend, had already told him how to get to Misa's apartment. The look of hope and happiness on his face dried up any protest she might have made at the way he had been pulling her along almost too fast for her to keep up, and then he was off again, still holding her hand and leading her along, though more gently this time.

'What am I going to do...?' Ako thought worriedly. Rale-kun was most definitely bothered by something, or he wouldn't be acting so strangely...her cheeks heated up as she finally realized he was taking her to her home. Why had he wanted to know where she lived...? Her whole face heated up as the possibilities paraded through her thoughts. "U-um, Rale-kun?"

"What is it, Ako-san?" he asked, looking back at her and smiling that same smile that had so caught her attention on their first date yesterday. He abruptly darted into a side alley, pulling her in with him, and wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her down with him as he knelt down behind a dumpster, his arms wrapped tight around her, holding her close as he looked up and down the alley.

Ako's whole face blazed red. "W-what-"

"Don't worry about a thing, Ako-san! I'll take care of you!" he said, clearly determined to do so. The fiercely protective expression on his face as he peeked around the edge of the dumpster, still holding her tight, sent her heart beating even more wildly than the boy's startling actions had already caused, and she realized for the first time that calling him a mere boy didn't do him justice.

"R...Rale-kun..."

Rale stood up, bringing Ako up with him, and pulled her along, blushing fiercely, to the far end of the alley, which opened up on another street, where he turned his attention forward and pressed on, faster than before, pulling Ako along behind him.

'What am I going to do?' she thought helplessly.

* * *

><p>Misa's apartment was actually very nice, a benefit of being part of a really quite successful rock band, along with the fact that she had three roommates, one of whom was certifiably rich, one of whom was incredibly lucky, and one of whom was, well, Ako, who constantly received presents from suitors of all kinds. Misa hadn't had to buy a kitchen appliance or television set in <em>years<em>.

Ako fumbled with her keys for a moment while Rale shifted awkwardly behind her until her frantically shaking hands finally managed to put the key into the keyhole while she tried to figure out how to tell Rale that she couldn't do...whatever it was it seemed like he wanted to do. 'I-I-I can't do this! I really can't! What would my mother say...?' Ako thought frantically as she nevertheless opened the door and allowed the young man behind her to enter the apartment. He stepped right past her, causing her to let out a startled _squeak_ when his arm brushed against her. He moved out into the center of the entry room, looking at the various doors, before turning back to her, her mind, already in overdrive, turning his expression into something totally different from what it was.

"Which one is your room?" he asked.

Ako thought her heart might explode.

Rale walked over to her and took both her hands in his as he looked into her eyes. "Ako-san, please; we need to hurry."

Ako's mind took one look at the image her eyes were sending, took note of the fact that Rale was holding her hands in his, observed how close they were standing, and finally tried to process the fact that he wanted to go into her bedroom...and promptly keeled over, leaving her defenseless as her hand jerkily pointed to one of the doors on the right. Rale smiled at her, enough of a shock to her already overworked system to send her mind back into paroxysms of confusion, and then Rale was leading her through the doorway into her room.

Her frantic imaginings ran into a brick wall, however, when Rale grabbed a large bag from its place on a chair and thrust it into her hands.

"Wha-"

"Here, put anything you might need in here. We have to hurry!" he said, looking around the small room stuffed full of guitars.

Ako just stood there, gaping, as she held the empty bag.

"Hurry, Ako-san! We don't have a moment to lose!" Rale said as he pulled open one of her dresser drawers, revealing rows of undergarments, the sight of which left him frozen in place as he suddenly realized he was standing in a girl's _bedroom_. And not just any girl, no, but _Ako-san_...! Ako-san's _bedroom_! Where she _slept_! And then Ako was pushing him out into the hallway and shut the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Ako pushed the door shut until it latched and leaned against it, trying to figure out what had just happened. Obviously Rale-kun had something on his mind...Ako was not unused to the need to rapidly flee a location; she was a part of Ala Alba, after all, and she knew what it meant to be forced to leave a place quickly. "Rale-kun?" she asked through the door.<p>

"Yes, Ako-san?" came the hesitant reply from the other side.

"Is someone after me?" Ako asked. She heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the door, but no answer. "If someone is after me, I need to know, Rale-kun," she said, more softly as her mind finished rebooting and decided it was ready to try and process reality again.

"Y-yes."

"And they're here? In Mahora?"

"...yes."

And now for the moment of truth. "How do you know?" she asked. There was a long, long pause from the other side of the door.

"I-I just...know. Come on, we need to hurry..."

Ako wasted no more time, and opened the bedroom door. "The pantry is through there," she said, pointing to another hallway. "Take a shopping bag and put some canned food in it; a can opener too." While Rale ran down the hallway to do her bidding, Ako switched her cute shoes for something a bit more practical, opened her closet door, and took up a handful of shirts, which she carefully placed into her bag. She followed this up with some pants and shorts, as well as undergarments and various articles designed with hygiene in mind. She took a wad of cash from its hiding place under the bottom of the dresser and put what would fit into her pockets, stuffing the rest into her bag. A moment later, Rale rushed back in, ran to the window, and forced it open.

"Come on! We have to go through here!" Ako wasted no time in argument; she simply nodded and climbed out, carrying her bag with her. The two of them climbed down to street level and took off at a run, Rale leading the way with his hastily filled bag of groceries.

* * *

><p>"Ooh," Albireo said, wincing as Ayaka landed a vicious blow on Cocone and rushed to grapple before she could recover. The taller woman quickly bore her down to the ground, but Cocone managed to slip away before Ayaka could take advantage of the opening. "Pretty close, wouldn't you say, Kitty?"<p>

Eva sipped her tea and gazed blankly at the display. "This match is boring."

"Come now, don't say that!" Al said jovially. "Just look at Ayaka-chan's footwork! Truly masterful for one so young."

"Psh. Ku Fei's better," Eva said absently. She put her teacup down and yawned. Of course, Ku Fei was better than just about _everybody_...this didn't bear mention. "Besides, it's obvious who's going to win."

"Oh? Would you like to make a be-"

"HELL NO!"

Al continued smirking at her, unruffled. "Is something wrong, Kitty?" His grin widened amazingly.

Eva looked at the screen in order to avoid the urge to wring the big twerp's neck just in time to see Ayaka land a tremendous kick to Cocone's face, sending her staggering back and half turning before collapsing, ending up flat on her face. Eva yawned again as the last match of the second round ended and everyone, Ayaka included, rushed to help the girl. "See?"

"You should've made the bet-"

"Damn it Al, no means NO! And I swear if you ever try to make me agree to a bet like that again you will come to know why I am named the Dark Evangel, Maga Nosferatu, the Visitation of Woe! The Lord of Darkness! The Tidings of Evil! _The Apostle of Destruction! _**The Disciple of**-"

Al calmly took another sip of tea and grinned winningly while Eva continued ranting, and made a mental note to do this more often. "Yes, Kitty."

* * *

><p>Negi rushed to the location Reiko had given him in her phone call, and found several others already waiting there in the otherwise deserted park. "Where is she? Has there been any word?" he asked as he trotted up, spotting Reiko seated on a bench. The kidnapping of his student, Possum Cade, had hit him extremely hard; especially so since it was largely due to the fact that his sudden appearance at the time had startled Possum into taking her attention off of the vampire she was barely managing to hold off long enough for him to capture her...<p>

Asuna shook her head. "No one knows," she said, then turned her attention back to Reiko. "Are you going to call anyone else, or is this enough?" she asked.

Reiko looked around at the dozen people standing around. "This should be enough. Someone should record what I say, because I'm not going to repeat it. Nodoka-san, I give you permission to use the Diarium Ejus. Now," she said, when everyone was ready, "first of all, there is something you all have to understand: I have Jonus Hart." She waited a moment while the uproar died down. "I have his soul in this," she said, holding up a small glass perfume bottle. "As long as I have this, he can't get away with doing anything I tell him not to do, within limits."

"Where is he?" Negi asked coldly.

Reiko looked at him, met his cold gaze with her own, and said "He's tucked away somewhere safe, for now. Something you should know is that he is sorry for his actions." She turned to Nodoka. "Tell them."

Nodoka read over the contents of her mind reading artifact and nodded in surprise. "She's right. Reiko certainly believes he is regretful." This brought up a round of thoughtful murmurs. If Reiko, who notoriously didn't trust _anybody _believed the vampire Jonus Hart was sorry, she was almost certainly correct.

"That doesn't change the fact that he kidnapped one of my students," Negi said, his voice cold as ice.

Asuna gave him a wary look, then directed her attention back to Reiko. "What does that change?"

"Nothing," Reiko replied. "He kidnapped a young student, used magic to perform mind control on dozens of other people, let all those shadow creatures loose in the city, and of course there was the damage resulting from all of that, as well as the battle between him and you," she said, looking at Negi, who had certainly caused no small damage on his own in that fight. "From what he tells me, something about Possum and her older sister Lucy's blood is like..." she paused, trying to recall exactly the way he had described the effect. "Imagine the most delicious food you've ever eaten," she finally said, and paused for a moment. "Multiplied by twenty. He said it was incredible in every way, and left him feeling young again, as if he could do anything."

"Like it made him drunk," Makie said, fresh from the tournament.

Reiko nodded. "He said word of this must not get out, or other vampires will want to try it. And if Eva gets wind of it..."

Everyone shuddered at the thought of Eva, possibly the most powerful vampire in existence, drunk, and with the bad decision making skills that came with such a state.

Negi shook his head to clear it of the terrifying image. "But what about Possum-san? Is she okay? Does he know where she is?"

Reiko shifted to a slightly less uncomfortable position on the park bench. "He doesn't know where she is. The last time he saw her," she said, raising her voice to cut off the angry words in Negi's throat, "the last time he saw her, she was in his hotel room. He even gave me the room number in order to confirm we had the right one. He said if she wasn't there, she must have escaped; he insisted over and over again that she wasn't the sort of person to take lightly, and I'm pretty sure he's right."

"So...we have to find her. Have you been able to find any clue as to where she might have gone?" Chizuru asked; it was the first time she had spoken up since arriving with Asuna.

Reiko shook her head. "He seems insistent that she is still in the city; he says he can 'feel her', whatever that means."

Chizuru nodded in response.

"Master told me once that vampires have a connection to those they've turned," Negi said slowly. "Even temporarily, like what happened with you, Makie-san," he said, referring to the infamous 'Vampire of Sakura Lane' incident, which had resulted in Makie and several of her classmates becoming magically enslaved to Eva for a short time back in middle school, when he had first arrived.

Reiko nodded. "He says she's here, somewhere, and she probably needs our help. If she's..." She trailed off. She didn't really know Possum beyond a 'Hey, how's it going' 'Fine, and you?' sort of way, but still she found the idea of Possum stuck alone somewhere, slowly turning into a vampire and helpless to do anything about it extremely distasteful.

"We need to find her _now_," Negi said. He looked at Nodoka. "Can you set up-"

"Already on it," she said quietly as she opened more copies of her book.

"We need to secure this park-"

"Already taken care of," Reiko said, waving her hand to show it was nothing much. "Magic circles. Nobody else can see us, and anyone who tries to come through will end up going around instead."

Negi nodded, his mind working fast as he ran through his rapidly expanding mental list of things to do.

"How about the ghosts?" Asuna asked, prompting several of the others to look up. "Can't you ask them if they've seen her?"

Reiko frowned and shook her head. "Normally I could, but you have to understand, ghosts see things differently than we do. To them, Negi-sensei is 'A King', you're a black hole, Makie-san's a sunflower...you get the idea."

"A...black hole...?" Asuna asked, unsure of what to think about that.

"How about new ones? New black holes or sunflowers or whatever," Makie suggested.

Reiko's frown tightened, but she turned to the empty space on her right. "How about it?"

"Is that...Sayo-chan...?" Makie asked, squinting at the empty air. She thought she might _just barely_ be able to see a shape there, but she couldn't really tell-

"Yeah, it's Sayo. She came a while ago to tell me Kazumi-san has duties at the tournament and couldn't make it," Reiko said. "Now be quiet, I'm listening." Everyone leaned in close, waiting, until Reiko sat back, her head cocked to the side and a curious expression on her face.

"Well?" Asuna asked.

"She says...there's a big yellow cat wandering around down below, in the storm drains," Reiko said, clearly puzzled. "But there are others too; there's a big vulture that's always flying around, and a fireball," she paused for a moment. "She says like 'Scary Max-sensei', but smaller," she added, unable to keep from smirking at the big P.E. teacher's nickname, even among the ghosts. "A bunch of wild animals too. I guess those are probably the youkai who are here for that big festival they have. It's not really much to go on..."

"But it's a start," Negi said, taking on a confident expression for the first time in quite a while, now that he felt he was making actual progress. "And with the festival going on, we have more people working security than any other time of the year; we should be able to find her as soon as she comes out in the open." He looked over at Nodoka just in time for her to open her eyes and make a satisfied smile.

"Everyone knows to watch for her," Nodoka said, a small smile on her lips betraying the happiness she felt at being of use to her friends.

"Thank you, Nodoka," Negi said, smiling at her. He turned to look at the others. "Let's work out a search grid. Reiko-san, I want you to check with the ghosts and make a list of anything strange; the rest of us will check them out, one by one if necessary. Or maybe the ghosts can help us, how many-"

"That probably won't work," Reiko said, interrupting him before he could get his hopes up. "For some reason, there are a lot more ghosts than usual. I mean, just around us right now, there are something like a dozen just wandering around this park."

Negi blinked. A _dozen_...? In this tiny park? There were barely a dozen in all of Mahora when he had first arrived...! "Reiko-san," he said very calmly as his skin prickled at the thought of all those ghosts hanging around, _watching_. Had they seen the various embarrassing incidents he had suffered since Asuna had started living in his apartment...? How humiliating...! "How many, ah...how many ghosts would you say are in the city now?"

Reiko scowled defensively as everyone turned their attention on her. "What, you guys didn't know? They're everywhere. There are thousands of them...didn't Kazumi say anything?" she demanded, clearly irritated.

Makie, who had gone pale at the mention of thousands of ghosts, shivered. "N-no! She didn't say a word!"

Reiko rolled her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Okay, look. They're just ghosts. They can't hurt you. The most they can do is knock down the occasional vase. Quit being an idiot," she said sharply, then turned her attention back to Negi. "They've been building up for the past year or so, but they haven't done anything bad, and most of 'em seem to be scared of something, or embarrassed. They won't say a word to me, but they'll sometimes talk to Sayo." She looked at the empty air to her right again, and sighed in annoyance. "And even that's not very useful. Look, these new ghosts don't know me, most of 'em probably aren't even aware I can see 'em. They're just about useless, and this whole thing is really getting aggravating. Now I need to get back home and get some rest, so do the rest of your damn planning without me!" she said peevishly as she took hold of her cane and struggled for a moment to push herself up off the bench, a simple task that had suddenly become very complicated and painful after she had been grievously wounded by a ghoul back in May. She gave Negi a withering scowl when he moved to help her up, pulled herself up the rest of the way, and hobbled away, looking as if she could keel over at any time.

"Well," Asuna said when Reiko was gone, putting on a brave front and trying to ignore the idea that _thousands_ of ghosts might be looking at her, "we've got a lot of work to do. Let's get to it!"

* * *

><p>Ako followed along as Rale darted through alleyways and across streets apparently at random, trying to escape from people Ako didn't even know enough about to be able to recognize if she saw them. As they went down one particularly long alleyway, Ako watched him running in front of her, marveling at the drastic change that had changed the shy, awkward teenage boy of yesterday into this semi-heroic man who was intent on saving her...and couldn't help but blush a little as she clutched her bag to her chest with her free hand.<p>

They ran up to the end of the alley and paused while Rale peeked out around the edge, and then darted out onto the sidewalk and took off again. They were about to run past a cafe when the door opened and one of the men Ako had seen Rale with that first day, a big, rough looking man with black hair, stepped outside, took one look at Rale and Ako, and bellowed "I found 'em!" in a voice that must have echoed halfway across the city. Rale skidded to a halt and tried to punch the bigger man, but was swatted aside with ease. The big man stepped forward and looked down at Ako. She shot a quick, worried glance at Rale, who was pushing himself up off the ground amid his spilled bag of groceries, and then back to the big man, who gently yet relentlessly took her bag away. She heard shouting from down the street and turned to see half a dozen others coming up at a run, and then Rale was up again.

"No! Cort, you can't do this! You have to let her go!" he said frantically in as low a voice as he could manage under the circumstances. "She doesn't deserve this! It's...it's not _right_!"

The big man scowled at him, and yet Ako thought she could detect a hint of regret buried in his expression as well.

"Don't fight; it'll be easier on both of you if you just give in," he said a low, rumbling tone that she would have expected to come out of a bass amplifier rather than a human mouth. "Believe me, Initiate, this is for the best," he added. He gave Ako one last look before turning to what was obviously the leader of the newcomers as he trotted up, out of breath after his run.

While the two spoke quietly, Ako looked over at Rale again, noting the frustrated helplessness in his expression, the regret he was feeling, and understood the truth of what he was and what he had been trying to do. She moved to stand beside him and took his hand. He tried to fight back the tears that were starting to spill out, and she squeezed his hand reassuringly as the strange group came to take the two of them away.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Trying to get a once-every-two-weeks update schedule going here; we'll just have to see how it holds up._


	14. Ch 11 Festival Second Day pt 4 Final Rnd

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 11, The Festival Second Day, Tournament Finals**

* * *

><p><em>Saturday, June 27th, 2009, Afternoon<em>

* * *

><p>"Nodoka-chan?" Jennifer said aloud, then swore under her breath. She just couldn't get used to using Nodoka's telepathy-based network... She had no problem using spells or artifacts to gain access to other people's minds, but she just couldn't get used to the idea of letting herself open up enough to let someone else into <em>hers<em>; she had too much up there she didn't want anyone to see...

_Yes?_

Jennifer looked around the large, shadowy room hidden deep within the maze of drainage and sewer tunnels under Mahora, probably something designed for storage of equipment or, on second thought—she could see large metal boxes on the other side of the room with big pipes going through them to the floor and ceiling—some sort of pumping station...? "She's not here now, but I think I found where Possum's been staying."

_Are you sure? How do you know?_

Jennifer eyed the writing recently scratched into the concrete ('I'm Sorry' written in English in foot-high letters), glanced over at Asuna, who stood in the far corner of the room holding up a dead rat by the tail with two fingers before dropping it back on top of the neat little pile of dead animals from which she had taken it, and tried to ignore the general stench of blood and vomit that permeated the place. "...I'm pretty sure."

Jennifer took a longer look around the room, trying to find some clue as to where Possum may have gone, but the floor was bare concrete and the room contained nothing notable but for the pile of dead animals, the vomit, and the writing scratched on the wall. It certainly _looked_ like Possum was well on her way to turning into a vampire...she hoped, if nothing else, that the change wouldn't be too hard on the girl. "I hope she's alright," she muttered under her breath. Eva had demanded to be notified immediately if Possum was found; she wondered what exactly that meant for the poor girl.

"Eww," Asuna said, standing on one leg to better see what she had just stepped in.

* * *

><p>Madoka circled warily, watching El Buho carefully. The masked girl was <em>extremely <em>familiar, but Madoka just couldn't put a name to her; the mask lifted straight from Lucha Libre certainly wasn't helping. But in any case, the girl was hurt; that much was obvious simply by watching the way she moved. 'I'd better end this quickly then,' Madoka thought to herself. The other girl had certainly done well thus far, especially with the defeat of her opponent in the second round of the tournament, but she was in no condition to even give Madoka a fight, not now. In the future, maybe...El Buho attempted a feint, then changed mid-move into an actual attack that Madoka narrowly avoided. 'Give her a few years, and she really _will_ give me a good fight,' Madoka thought, smiling in anticipation at the idea. But for now, she had a third round fighting tournament match to end.

When El Buho feinted again, Madoka darted forward, snagged El Buho around the waist from behind, lifted her thin form high in the air, and slammed her down to the ground before going for an ankle lock. The girl kicked free before she could lock it in however, and scrambled back out of reach. When she got back to her feet, however, it was obvious something was wrong.

Madoka watched warily as the girl stood across from her, breathing oddly as she wrapped one arm around her midsection just under her ribcage. "Are you alright?" she asked. The girl hesitated for a long, long moment, then shook her head and collapsed to her knees, wrapping both arms around her midsection. Madoka turned to the officials in alarm as the other girl started to cough up blood, and they swiftly ended the match as emergency personnel rushed the fighting stage.

* * *

><p>Ako was quickly bundled into the back seat of a beat up, older model car, wedged between two strange men who kept as far away as the interior of the car allowed. As the car drove out of the parking lot, she turned back, hoping to get one last glimpse of Rale, but he was nowhere in sight. She settled back down and looked uneasily at the two men sharing the back seat with her, but neither one would even look at her. She looked at the big man riding shotgun in the front seat, the same one who had stopped her and Rale earlier, but from his bored expression as he looked out the window he might as well not even been aware of her presence. The driver was equally silent, focusing on following the car in front of him.<p>

"Um...where are we going?" Ako asked. The two men in the back seat seemed to shrink a little, while the driver visibly cringed. "Um..."

"We're going somewhere safe," the big man, who had introduced himself as 'Cort', replied, glancing back at her, his expression hard and stony and brooking no argument.

They rode along in silence for almost five minutes before she spoke up again.

"Where is my bag?"

"Amos has it," Cort said gruffly.

Awkward silence as the string of cars passed out of the city and headed in a vaguely eastward direction.

"Where is Rale-kun? He's not in trouble is he?" Ako asked, glancing back at the city of Mahora as it slipped out of sight behind a large hill.

"That all depends on you," Cort said, looking forward through the windshield.

"What do you mean?"

Cort crossed his arms, the muscles bulging and stretching the sleeves of his shirt. "Look, what it _looks like_ he was in the process of doing when I found you two could get him killed." Cort turned around in his seat and met her gaze, the only one of this strange bunch of kidnappers who seemed to have the nerve. "He wasn't trying to run away with you, was he?" he asked, his stare intensifying as he cocked an eyebrow. "He wasn't trying to run away, right?" he asked again.

Ako hesitantly shook her head, and Cort nodded. "Good. Then the kid's not in trouble. Now sit back and try to get some rest; we'll be on the road for a while. And don't even _think_ about trying to get away." With that, Cort leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, seeming to fall asleep at once.

Ako just wished she had put her cell phone in her pants pocket instead of in her bag. 'How long before they realize I'm gone...?' she wondered. Misa, old friends though they were, probably wouldn't notice for _days_. Madoka would notice her absence right away, though she might assume Ako had chosen to pull another all nighter at the library or Eva's resort, as she often did when she had free time. Sakurako would definitely notice, but whether she would realize anything was wrong was another matter altogether. She didn't spend enough time with any of the others for them to notice that she was missing until several days had passed, and even then most of them would probably dismiss her absence as a coincidence.

If this had happened to one of the others, Asuna or Akira or Yuuna or really anyone else, they would have already escaped by this point, and probably captured the kidnappers as well. But Ako...she began playing with the hem of her shirt to give her hands something to do. 'I'm not a fighter...' she thought. She hated the sight of blood; it made her head hurt and the scar on her back burn, and it made her feel as if her mind was twisting in on itself, trying to recall something horrible. Her forte was more along the lines of manipulating magic, anyway, or 'buffing' her friends, as several of them called it. That was something that would be of little use here. Sure, she could pull off the occasional small series of magic arrows, and a single magic arrow cast inside the car would probably kill her kidnappers, but she didn't think she could do it; having any more blood on her hands would- She paused mid-thought. 'Now why did I think something like that...?' she wondered. 'Any more blood'...? As far as she was aware, she had never killed anyone...though she had a distinctively uneasy feeling that that wasn't technically true. She certainly couldn't recall doing such a thing, but it wasn't completely out of the question, not with the _other_ side of her abilities.

Along with Ako's buffing and manipulation of magic came the ability to _take magic away, _to draw it into herself not as a spell, but as if she was filling up a car with gas. There was the normal harvesting of magic power performed with highly specific spells or rituals or combinations of magic circles, but what she did was distinctly different. What she was able to do didn't require any of that; it was natural, almost instinctive...she looked at a spell or magic power made visual, and simply...pulled it in. She had done a lot of research in the lower levels of library island, but it had all been fruitless until earlier this year, when she had stumbled upon a long-forgotten room deep in the sub levels that contained a book on famous ancient mages. One of them, known as Laureyn Fallen, The Ravager, The Magic Eater, The Empress Of Antipathy, could do the same thing, the _exact_ same thing, as she could. What she had, Ako had discovered, was the extremely rare ability known only as 'Magic Eater', wherein the user, without the use of any sort of magical aid, could 'eat' magical energy. Of course, it went further than that. Ako had discovered, much to her horror, that she could do the same with...something _else_. Not only could she 'eat' magic, ki, that strange, distinctive power that the youkai seemed to have, even the power that demons possessed, but beyond all that, she could 'eat' a person's life energy, and she had a truly terrifying feeling that she had been doing that very thing her entire life, from the time she was born, maybe even earlier. Ako was a naturally kind, friendly person, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe that everyone else was as well; the first and only time she had used the darker side of her ability purposely, the mugger who had pulled her aside in the city had keeled over, gasping for breath and clutching at the air, his skin so pale it was almost white, his eyes unseeing and bulging in terror. She had fled, horrified at what she had done, terrified at the tremendous feeling of _life_ coursing through her body. It had felt _good, _and that was even worse. From that time to the present, she had actively avoided using that horrifying ability of hers, making sure to stop immediately whenever she realized she was siphoning off power from her friends. This was an ability she had to keep secret from everyone; there was no way she could face them if they knew she had been stealing their lives from them for so long. She had a feeling Akira might know, but as far as she could tell Akira hadn't told anyone, and none of the others had ever shown a hint that they even knew such an ability existed.

She _could_ use that power here, she knew. She could drain the driver; the big man who had called himself Cort seemed capable...he would probably be able to steer the car off the road into a parking lot or something before they crashed. Cort would be the next target, and then she would go after the two in the back seat with her, cannibalizing the life energy of them all...and end up a monster. She shook her head to clear it, biting her lip. She couldn't do it; she couldn't bring herself to do such a thing at all. Some of her old friends had become scarily used to bloodshed, but for her part...she just couldn't do it.

Ako turned around to look in the direction of Mahora but, as expected, the city was lost to sight, blocked by trees and the occasional building, not to mention the hills just outside of town. Even the world tree wasn't visible from her current position. She looked forward through the windshield, sending up a silent prayer that someone would come to save her from being forced to use her horrid ability, soon.

* * *

><p>The first thing El Buho became aware of was a bright light shining directly into her eyes. "Ugh..."<p>

"Welcome back to the world of the living," a familiar voice said in an amused manner.

"Ugh," El Buho repeated and raised her hand up to block out the light. She looked blankly at the blood pressure monitor on her otherwise bare arm for a moment. Wait a minute, blood pressure monitor...? She couldn't recall...had she been unconscious? What about...what about her mask? She heaved herself up to a seated position, groaning in pain, but the woman who had spoken before gently pushed her back down. She felt stiff all over.

"If it's about your mask, don't worry. I told the paramedics to leave it on."

Her eyes finally adjusted to the lights and she sat up again carefully, fully expecting to feel broken ribs grinding together, and was confused to feel nothing but stiffness. "What...?"

"Heh, don't worry about it. It turned out you were suffering from food poisoning; they pumped your stomach and everything will be fine," the woman said.

"Food poisoning...?" El Buho repeated. There was _no way _that that had been food poisoning; she had felt her ribs cracking and coming apart! She had felt it from the moment that her opponent in the second round had landed that hit that cracked them! She had—she froze mid thought and looked up at the woman seated by her cot.

It was Kakizaki Misa.

She started to sweat and quickly turned her head to hide what little could be seen of her face through the eye and mouth holes of her mask. "U-um, I think I'm alright now, so you can go back to what you were doing!"

"Oh~? Is that so? I'm sure Madoka will be happy to hear that," she said. El Buho could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke.

"I-I'm really fine! You can go now! Really!"

"Is that so? Well, I must say I'm happy to hear that...Miyako-chan."

Miyako froze again and hunched her shoulders. "I-I-I'm not Miyako-chan! I don't even know wh-who that is, ah hah, ha ha ha! I-I'm El Buho!" She wanted to bury her head under the blanket.

Misa grinned. "He~eh...whatever you say, Miyako-chan. I don't know why you're hiding it, but you're actually really good. That guy in the second round was a real monster; defeating him was a real achievement on your part; Madoka wanted me to tell you you did a good job. But you just _know_ I've gotta ask: why are you hiding like this? If you wanted, you could join one of the fighting clubs and go pretty far."

Miyako looked away again. "I just...don't like hurting people."

Misa cocked an eyebrow and leaned over the cot so she could see Miyako's eyes. "Miyako-chan, you just participated in a _martial arts tournament_. You know, where the idea is to _hurt the other person_."

Miyako shook her head and gingerly took off the mask she had been wearing. She put the mask in her lap and smoothed it out, smiling slightly as she looked at it. "No, a tournament is different from a fight. My grampa always said that in a fight, you're just trying to hurt the other guy, but in a tournament, you're testing yourself against the best." She smiled as she smoothed the mask again, then held it up so Misa could see. "He used to wear this when he went to America. The way he spoke of it, you could find some of the best fighters in the world practicing Vale Tudo there."

Misa looked at Miyako's smiling face and distant eyes as she spoke of her grandfather, and couldn't help but wonder how the girl had managed to become so good at fighting while remaining so gentle. Every fighter Misa knew, and she knew quite a few, was a little rough around the edges; even Madoka, the very epitome of a cute girlfriend, behind closed doors at least, had in recent years started to appear cold to most outsiders and could even be too forceful with her closest friends on occasion. Misa smiled and stood up, ruffling Miyako's hair as she did. "Well, I've got to go. My sister's match is up next. Congratulations on making it all the way to the semifinals, Miyako-chan...but I don't want you to overdo it, okay? Oh, and the No Name Band did real good yesterday, especially you. When you see Ayumi, tell her I'd like to talk to her, okay? Keep it up; you guys are already better than we were at your age~ See ya later!" Misa said as she walked away.

Miyako looked shyly down at her lap while the older woman walked away. Misa-san was so pretty, and nice, too! She smoothed her grandfather's mask again and couldn't help but smile. Today had been a really good day...

* * *

><p>"So we meet again," Ayaka said as she stood on the fighting stage, facing her opponent. The breeze was picking up, whipping her long hair around, even braided as it was, as she took in every detail of the woman standing opposite.<p>

Hatsune grinned slightly and dipped her head a fraction of an inch in acknowledgment of the fact.

Ayaka's confident expression as she watched Kakizaki Hatsune from across the fighting stage felt a little wooden, even to Ayaka herself. She clearly recalled everything she had seen while watching the other woman's matches, looking for weaknesses or even clues to her fighting style, but Hatsune had simply avoided attacks until the end of each match, when the attacks she did launch inevitably ended the match in a flurry of swift brutality; Hatsune did not seem to know the meaning of the words 'holding back', and what she had done to poor Sachiko...Ayaka didn't like to say she hated anyone, but what Hatsune had done was almost unforgivable. Ayaka was well aware of just how fragile the cold, distant class rep of Negi's class really was, and Hatsune had torn her down in the ways that would hurt her most.

Hatsune was smirking at her.

Ayaka made sure her gloves were properly fitted and began to circle, forcing Hatsune to move. Ayaka took in every detail she could, but the only distinctive trait Hatsune employed seemed to be a distinct economy of movement, a manner of maneuvering using the smallest amount of movement possible. Fuuka had fallen prey to underestimating it, while Sachiko had simply gotten angry and allowed herself to be manipulated.

Hatsune's smirk was suddenly tinged with boredom.

Ayaka's anger at the other woman instantly welled up at the disrespect she was showing, but she stopped herself before could do anything stupid; she had seen the other matches...Hatsune knew exactly what she was doing.

Ayaka tried a feint, darting forward a step or two while moving her arms as if to grapple, but Hatsune didn't seem to react and Ayaka darted back out of range and continued circling. The match reached the one minute mark without a single punch being thrown, then the two minute mark with little to show but a few feints and that didn't go anywhere and a lot of circling.

"So," Hatsune said, speaking up for the first time since the beginning of the match. "Is this all you have to show for yourself? What is the style you use, kickboxing? I've seen better. I've _beaten_ better."

It was hard, but Ayaka bit her tongue and kept quiet. 'I can't let her bait me into doing something stupid, she's just-'

"Savate is far superior to kickboxing," Hatsune went on. "And Krav Maga is superior to that. You're just wasting your time."

Ayaka was fuming. 'My grandfather taught me kickboxing...! _Wait_! Come on Ayaka, calm down! This is not the place to get-'

"Pathetic."

'-to get angry...' Ayaka thought to herself, clenching her teeth to keep from snapping at the irritating woman. She stopped circling and took a deep breath to calm herself. 'Come on, I'm better than this! She's just trying to make me lose control; I have to stay calm. It's no wonder Sachiko lost her temper...' She took another deep breath. 'Good...good. Stay calm.' She had always had a quick temper, and it had taken years upon years with the help of Asuna and the others to work out how to control it enough to remain effective in a fight. It had been a long, hard road, but she had ultimately succeeded; she was often aggravated or angry at her opponent when fighting, but she had reached the stage where she rarely let that anger control her.

"Maybe after I finish you I'll go and wipe out whoever trained you-"

Ayaka blinked, barely taking in what Hatsune was saying.

_What._

"Heh..." Ayaka couldn't believe what she had just heard. Hatsune defeat her trainers? Ha! Even with the ability Hatsune had shown thus far, any one of those who had trained Ayaka would wipe the floor with her...Ku Fei, Madoka, even Asuna or Max. Ayaka knew she was far from the heights any of them had reached in the past six years, but the idea that someone could easily win against any one of them was so hilarious that she had to fight the urge to laugh out loud. A match, with rules and regulation that must be followed, might last a minute; a real fight would be over in an instant. Hatsune was good, but she was far too theatrical in her fighting; her tendency to let the opponent make the first attack would be a fatal mistake, especially against Ku Fei. Ayaka shook her head to clear it, and smiled at the woman standing across from her. "You? Defeat any of _them_? Don't make me laugh! You may defeat me here, but I won't go down without a fight. And besides..." Ayaka paused, grinning at Hatsune. "And besides, you won't be able to win against Madoka."

Hatsune's expression tightened, and Ayaka knew that last one had hit a nerve.

"I can see I will have to do this the hard way," Hatsune said through clenched teeth. In what seemed a mere instant later, her knee rammed hard into Ayaka's gut, and it was all Ayaka could do not to collapse from the pain. But there was no time for that, as Hatsune was going for a throw. Ayaka's years of training took over and she blocked the throw and tripped Hatsune, forcing her off balance long enough to snag her around the middle. Ayaka let out a roar as she lifted the startled woman up over her shoulder and fell back, coming down with Hatsune's chest acting as a shock absorber between Ayaka's back and the ground. The other woman let out a pained gasp at the impact, but quickly shoved Ayaka off and was up on her feet a moment later, her eyes wide and startled, but Ayaka was up an instant later, backing out of range and grinning even though her stomach felt as though it were on fire from Hatsune's first attack. Ayaka realized the crowd was roaring, and her grin widened further.

"You've never lost before, have you?" she asked. "You've probably never even been hurt in a fight. Tell me, how does it feel?" Ayaka asked, smirking at Hatsune as she circled to the right.

Hatsune's expression lost any attempt to look composed and she snarled as she darted forward and tackled Ayaka in the midsection before she could react. Ayaka hit the ground hard, the air driven from her lungs, but Hatsune didn't waste a moment; she climbed on top of Ayaka and straddled her, squeezing her arms tight against her sides with her legs, and punched Ayaka in the face with all of her might.

The impact was tremendous; it drove Ayaka's head back into the surface of the fighting stage and made her world explode in bright lights. Her vision cleared just in time to see Hatsune's fist speeding toward her face again and she lurched to the side, throwing Hatsune off balance and taking most of the force out of the blow. Ayaka, thinking only of stopping Hatsune before she could pound her face into mush or lock in a submission hold and break a bone, snagged her around the wrist with her left hand before Hatsune could scramble out of range and, rearing back as far as she could with her right, proper form and style utterly forgotten, yanked Hatsune toward her while she let fly, driving her right into Hatsune's face with all the force she could muster. Hatsune cried out as blood droplets flew, and Ayaka felt a tremendous blow to the side of her head as Hatsune let fly with a wild roundhouse kick, and next thing she knew she was lying flat on her back, looking over at Hatsune, down on her knees a few feet away, cupping her bleeding nose with both hands, her eyes wide and...could it be?...scared. Ayaka laughed through her puffy, bloody face, and got a good, long look at the delicious expression full of shock and fear the other woman wore before she snapped out of it.

"What? What are you laughing at?" Hatsune demanded, her voice oddly nasal.

Ayaka giggled deliriously; her head was swimming and she felt really, really strange, but she couldn't help but find Hatsune to be immensely funny at this moment in time. "That's it? Heh, that's all you've got? You may have beat me, you may not have lost yet..." she trailed off as her vision went cloudy and shook her suddenly heavy head to clear it.

"Shut up!" Hatsune screamed, actually _screamed;_ Ayaka couldn't help but find it hilarious.

"Y...you may not have ever lost, _yet..._but you haven't faced Madoka," Ayaka slurred as her vision faded.

* * *

><p>"Wow," Misa said, watching the monitor as staff members rushed in to keep Hatsune away from Ayaka, who had fallen unconscious. She had returned from her visit with Miyako just before the final match of the semifinal round had begun. "She actually hit her!"<p>

Madoka smiled crookedly. "She hit her hard, too." 'Good job, Ayaka; we'll have to get a video of the match.' She wasn't particularly worried about Ayaka's condition; Konoka would fix her right up, maybe put her in a cast or bandages for a week or two so nobody would ask any questions. Besides, that level of damage was normal during training in Eva's resort.

"Ha! Did you see the look on her face when Ayaka flipped her over? Oh wow, that was hilarious!" Misa continued, exploding into a fit of giggles at the end.

Madoka nodded, thinking about what she had seen from Hatsune during the match. The woman was incredibly dangerous; though she seemed to follow no specific style of fighting, the power behind her strikes was tremendous...a natural genius. No wonder Misa had been worried... She looked over at the other woman and couldn't help but smile as Misa talked so animatedly about how she had never seen Hatsune get hit that hard before. Madoka leaned over and threw her arm around Misa's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said when Misa gave her a curious look. "I don't know why it's so important to you that I beat her, but I'll win. I promise you that."

Their eyes locked, Misa couldn't help but smile as she threw her arms around her. "Thank you," she murmured into Madoka's hair. "Thank you..."

* * *

><p>Sakurako paused halfway through her ice cream cone, cocking her head to the side as she gazed off absently to the east. "Huh..." she said after a moment. For a moment there, she thought she had heard someone begging for help, but it didn't repeat, and she went back to her ice cream cone.<p>

* * *

><p>Some time later after a pause while the fighting stage was once again cleaned, Hatsune sat by herself in the back as she waited for the next match, wrapping her hands and wrists in tape.<p>

_She's wrong. I won't lose. I **won't**. _

She looked down at the piece of paper she had been using to keep track of the tournament bracket. Finally, it was down to the last match of the tournament...everyone she had faced had been easy, up until the Yukihiro girl...Yukihiro Ayaka had given her a lot of trouble. Yukihiro Ayaka had given her more trouble than any of the legitimate martial arts masters she had fought in the last ten years, in fact. Yukihiro Ayaka had actually managed to hit her, not to mention _throw her, _and it really, _really _bothered her.

"Yukihiro shouldn't have been that good," she murmured aloud. Yukihiro Ayaka should have been just another pushover, like all the others, but not only had she disrespected her, she had _landed a hit. _A good hit, at that, as well as a throw. No one, not in the past twenty years, had ever hit Hatsune so hard or managed to throw her in such a manner. Even the three Judo masters she had faced hadn't been able to throw her, and while she had occasionally been hit, it had never been as hard as...as _that_. It had been shocking; she had never been hurt like that before, not by another person... Hatsune sighed as she set down the ice pack she had been holding to her nose and picked up a small hand mirror. That punch from Yukihiro Ayaka...Hatsune had thought it had broken her nose, but it appeared at the very least that it was still straight; Hatsune wasn't averse to corrective surgery, but she hated the idea of appearing ugly. She came from a family with a long history of beautiful women, and, she admitted reluctantly, her vanity would suffer a terrible blow if she suffered such an injury. She sighed and picked up the ice pack again.

_'You've never lost before, have you?' _Yukihiro Ayaka had asked her_. 'You've probably never even been hurt in a fight. Tell me, how does it feel?'_

Hatsune growled in frustration. Stupid rich girl; Hatsune had researched what she could about the other fighters, and had been pleasantly surprised to find Yukihiro Ayaka had a history not dissimilar to her own. She had thought...no, it would be better to not focus on bridges that had already been burned.

'I shouldn't have taunted that girl like that,' she thought reluctantly as she again removed the ice pack and took a drink of water. What she had done to that Nakamura Sachiko had been brutal, even by Hatsune's standards.

Yes, she had definitely gone overboard in her attempt to play the bad guy. But...now that it was done, it was done; she had no choice but to continue on as she had been. And besides...

_'-you may not have ever lost, yet...but you haven't faced Madoka-'_

Yukihiro Ayaka's words had been strangely infuriating...perhaps it had been the idea that Hatsune could be so easily defeated, perhaps it had been the implication that Hatsune had no idea what a _real _fight was; she didn't know, but one thing added to the already insulting statement by the Yukihiro heiress: Hatsune just couldn't bring herself to like her younger sister's girlfriend, and the implication that this 'Madoka' was better than her was...well...

"Excuse me?"

The interruption cut through her thoughts and brought her back to the real world, where she sat in the waiting area that had been assigned to her at the start of the tournament. She looked up at the speaker, a young man with glasses, a headset, and a clipboard. "Yes?"

"You're up next; it's time to go," he replied, looking down at his clipboard.

"All right," Hatsune said as she rose from the chair she had been sitting in. She put the ice pack in a bowl on the table and took up the hand mirror for one last look at her nose, sighed, and put it next to the bowl. "I'm ready."

The young man nodded and led the way.

* * *

><p>Hatsune stepped out through the opening into the blindingly bright sunlight; when her vision cleared she could see the fighting stage ahead of her: it appeared that Madoka had come out already. Hatsune kept her expression carefully neutral as she strolled to the fighting stage, the perfect picture of composure in spite of the crowd's yelling, and climbed up. She moved to her side and waited while the announcer worked the crowd into a frenzy and finally climbed down, beginning the match.<p>

Hatsune simply stood there on her side of the ring, watching Madoka as the wind started to kick up again, blowing her long black hair out to the side while only rustling Madoka's much shorter cut.

When the noise from the crowd had died down, Hatsune spoke.

"So you're Madoka...I've wanted to meet you for quite a while."

Madoka simply watched her for a moment, refusing to show any sign of weakness that Hatsune could detect. "Why did you hurt them like that?"

So, here it was, then...might as well play it to the hilt. Hatsune cocked an eyebrow and gave Madoka an imperious stare. "This _is _a tournament correct? Where one must defeat her opponents?" she said, disdain practically _dripping _from every word.

Madoka didn't react. "Sachiko is in the back right now, crying her eyes out on Taro's shoulder. There was no need to go that far." Her words were neat, concise; Hatsune had no doubt Madoka was deeply enraged, and, to be honest, Hatsune couldn't help but feel good that the object of so many of her own troubling thoughts should be upset...she couldn't help but try and make it worse.

"Wasn't there?"

The next thing she knew, Madoka's fist was rocketing toward her face and Hatsune jerked her head to the side, narrowly avoiding what could have been a knockout blow had it connected. Madoka didn't give her a moment's respite and pummeled her in the belly with both fists before she could get away, landing half a dozen hits before Hatsune struck Madoka hard in the face with the palm of her hand, pushing her back and off balance. She followed it up with a short, hard punch to the ribs that made Madoka cry out and stagger back, but Madoka ducked under the vicious knee strike that would've taken her flush on the chin.

* * *

><p>Back on the offensive, Madoka darted forward before Hatsune could recover and tackled her in the stomach, lifting her off her feet and slamming her to the ground. Madoka didn't give her an instant to recover, but climbed up on top of her in a mirror of what Hatsune herself had done to Ayaka in the previous match, and punched her again and again until Hatsune managed to work her arm free and strike Madoka across the face with a backhanded blow that knocked her off balance. Hatsune heaved herself up, furious with the other woman, and kicked her hard in the ribs as she climbed to her feet.<p>

With the anger Hatsune had inspired earlier burned away, Madoka watched Hatsune warily. That last kick to the ribs had _really _hurt...she'd probably cracked one. Still...Hatsune was angry, and that was for the best; angry fighters were sloppy fighters, and while Madoka was no slouch, it had been clear from the start that Hatsune was far superior to Madoka as far as technique went; Hatsune couldn't hold a candle to Ku Fei, however. One thing Madoka had noticed, however, was that Hatsune...was soft. A blow that Asuna or even Ayaka would have shrugged off had a much larger effect on Hatsune; even now the other woman was trying to keep from showing any weakness by fighting the impulse to wrap her arms around her midsection, where Madoka had landed so many hits mere seconds ago. But still, with all that, Hatsune's punches _hurt_. The woman also understood footwork and leverage, and reacted almost instinctively to just about anything Madoka tried. She didn't seem to have much of that rare quality called _heart_, but...

This was...sort of fun.

* * *

><p>Hatsune bit her tongue again to take her attention away from the sheer agony that was her stomach, and focused on presenting a confident image to her opponent. Kugimiya Madoka...she had known Madoka was something special—Misa would never have chosen her otherwise—but she hadn't expected <em>this<em>. Madoka was fast, strong, tough...she didn't seem to have any polish to her technique, but she had shrugged off blows that would have sent grown men to the hospital, and the match was barely thirty seconds old. What she had to do, she knew, was to throw some sort of joint lock on Madoka and force her to submit before the match got out of hand. This wasn't about her bet with Misa; it never had been...she had never intended to follow through on her threat to take Misa back home with her if she beat Madoka. No, this was about pride, and the insulting thought that some unknown could beat her, _her_! Hatsune had met all comers from veteran street fighters to twenty dan blackbelts in karate to the best hand to hand specialists Russia, the US, and the UK had to offer, and had beaten them all. And yet, in this little no name town in the middle of Japan, she had allowed herself to suffer humiliation after humiliation by no name locals in this pissant little martial arts tournament, and she had had enough...!

It was time to get serious.

* * *

><p>The only warning Madoka had was a slight tensing of Hatsune's legs before she shot toward her, spinning a kick aimed directly at her head. Madoka barely managed to get her arms up in time to deflect the blow, but the impact still knocked her down. Hatsune was on her in an instant, trying to force her into an armlock, but she leaned forward a little too far and Madoka flung herself back as she swung her leg up, kicking Hatsune in the head. It was only a glancing blow, however, and Hatsune was on her again before she could get up, this time going for a headlock. Madoka slipped out of position before she could lock it in, but Hatsune refused to give her an instant's rest and went for her left elbow. Madoka drove it into Hatsune's stomach, still hurting from the beating she had given it such a short time ago, and the woman gasped. Madoka took the brief opening and pistoned her foot straight into Hatsune's gut. Hatsune let out a cry and fell back, but she was up again in the same instant as Madoka, and rushed her.<p>

Madoka set herself and took Hatsune's charge in the stomach, halting the taller woman's advance. Hatsune tried to heave her up, but Madoka grabbed her around the middle and threw herself backward, driving Hatsune's face into the ground.

Madoka scrambled away, hurting from the impact of Hatsune's charge, and tried to catch her breath while Hatsune slowly climbed back to her feet, her long dark hair wild, flying loose in the brisk breeze that had been blowing since the start of the match. The hair blew out of her face, and Madoka could clearly see the blood flowing from Hatsune's nose and the ugly scrape on her forehead.

"I'm going to kill you," Hatsune stated calmly.

Only her long years of training saved Madoka from horrific damage to her face as Hatsune darted forward and jumped at her, snagging her by the head and flinging her around, viciously driving her face down toward the ground, there to be crushed between Hatsune's hip and the fighting stage. Madoka managed to twist just enough, mid flight, to take the impact on the side of her head rather than her face, a ringing blow that left her stunned and left an ugly, bloody scrape across the side of her face.

Hatsune scrambled around, grabbed her by the head before she could recover, and smashed it into the surface of the fighting stage again and again.

Madoka's world exploded in bright lights with the first impact, and the second left her seeing double for an instant. The third impact, harder than the previous two, stunned her, her body became numb, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. She could dimly feel Hatsune's fingers wrapped in her hair, the sensation of small clumps of hair threatening to get yanked out by the roots as Hatsune lifted her head again, and her gaze fell on the audience, focused on the horrified expression of a woman in the front row and the the queasy look of the man standing beside her, and then her head hit the fighting stage again and her vision went double a second time. She blinked, an action that seemed to take forever, and her vision cleared as her gaze swept around when Hatsune yanked her head up again and locked on someone running out from the backstage area. She found herself wanting to smile at that familiar head of long hair, but...her head hit the fighting stage again and a clump of hair came out when Hatsune yanked her head up again. She distantly heard Misa screaming her name, and their eyes met, Madoka's hazy and confused, Misa's fearful and crying. She wanted to tell Misa not to worry, everything was fine, but then her head hit the fighting stage again and she bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood. The pain lanced through her like lightning, far sharper than the dull thud of her head against the fighting stage, and everything snapped back.

* * *

><p>Hatsune, snarling something that sounded vaguely like "-thinks she can beat me-", slammed Madoka's head into the surface of the fighting stage one last time and staggered back up to her feet, looking around in a daze. Her gaze went to where her sister was being restrained by security on the long walkway that lead up to the fighting stage, and she realized the girl was screaming Madoka's name over and over again. She shook her head to clear it and looked over at the announcer, who was looking up at her in horrified shock. Hatsune swiped her blood-soaked hair out of her equally bloody face and tried to wipe the blood out of her eyes with her sleeve. She ached all over and for some reason her head felt all fuzzy. Maybe that kick from Madoka earlier had finally started working on her...? God knew it had almost knocked her out of the fight then and there...she probably had a concussion. She shook her head to clear it again and staggered halfway around, looking out at the audience. Why were they cheering...? Hadn't they been shocked, horrified, mere seconds before? She turned again and saw <em>her<em>.

* * *

><p>Madoka staggered back to her feet, breathing more easily now. She hurt all over, true, especially the side of her head, slick with blood from repeated impacts against the surface of the fighting stage, but...she stood swaying for a moment while her opponent turned around uncertainly, looking out at the crowd. Madoka couldn't hear anything for the ringing in her ears, but the entire crowd was up on its feet, and she could feel the stage rumbling underneath her feet from the sheer volume of noise they were making. She spotted Misa trying to push through the people working security, pointing at the fighting stage and yelling something Madoka couldn't hear. She tried to smile at Misa, but she only felt her body as if at second hand, and couldn't really tell if she had managed much more than a tiny grin. But...she felt sort of...good. As if she could keep going for hours. Her gaze wandered back to her opponent, who was looking at her in horror, clearly exhausted.<p>

Madoka rolled her shoulders, stretched her arms and popped her knuckles, and _smiled_.

* * *

><p>Al glanced slyly at Eva, smirking as the vampire edged closer and closer to the screen without seeming to realize she was even doing it, her eyes alive with excitement as she watched the action, a toothy grin splashed across her face as she watched the carnage unfold on the display.<p>

He took another sip of tea, contemplating on that oh-so-nebulous concept: The Human Spirit. Being what he was, he had never quite understood what it was, how it worked, or how humans could keep going when all hope was lost. It never failed to surprise him, but he had lived a long life; he liked surprises, especially when they involved someone he admired, who had fought long and hard for everything they had. Kugimya Madoka...he would remember her name to the end of eternity.

* * *

><p>Madoka grinned at Hatsune and shook her head to clear it, swayed for a moment as her vision went hazy, and straightened.<p>

"No, no! You can't get back up, you _can't_!" Hatsune shouted.

Madoka ignored the semi-hysterical sound of the woman's voice and took a step forward. "Looks like I finally got my second wind," she mumbled through a face puffy and swelled from the beating she had taken.

Hatsune screamed something unintelligible and ran at her, throwing a wild, looping right. Madoka slipped under it and smashed her own right into Hatsune's face, a vicious blow that staggered the woman. Madoka darted inside, too close for Hatsune to land a good blow, set herself, and pistoned her fists into Hatsune's midsection, first one and then the other, over and over until Hatsune pushed her away, using her greater height to put more force into her shove.

Madoka staggered back, and Hatsune went right after her, swinging wildly. Madoka shrugged off the blows, set herself, and delivered a wicked blow to the solar plexus. Hatsune doubled over with pain, and Madoka hit her again, and again, and finally a fourth time, the impact of the last blow almost lifting the woman off the ground before Madoka stepped back, letting Hatsune fall to her knees, clutching her stomach.

Madoka waited to see what Hatsune would do, and sighed when the taller woman again struggled back to her feet, swaying, barely conscious. "You should have stayed down," Madoka said, then turned to the side and kicked her in the chin.

* * *

><p><em>'Hey, Kagami? It's me, Taro. Um...Sachiko's not feeling so well, so we can't make it to the Second Day Party. I'm gonna bring her back to the dorms, so...see ya later. Sorry I can't make it.'<em>

Kagami frowned at the cell phone as Taro hung up without waiting for an answer. Sachiko wasn't feeling so well? Huh...

"Is something wrong?" her brother, Hiroaki, asked.

Kagami glanced back at him, then at his fellow yakuza badass Saga Jin lying in his hospital bed with an IV drip hooked up to his arm, looking at her curiously in the private hospital room he had paid for after getting into a scrape earlier in the day; the rest of the guys had gone out to get something to eat and see the sights. Kagami was a little irritated that no one would tell her what had happened to land Jin in the hospital, but after Taro's call... "No...Taro-kun called to say she and the class rep couldn't make it to the party tonight, but since I wasn't going to go anyway..." she trailed off, troubled. _Sachiko _of all people wasn't feeling so well?

"Come on, Kagami-chan, cheer up! A frown doesn't suit you at all," Jin said from the hospital bed. He paused a moment, looking at her. "Now I know it's probably the morphine talking, but you're lookin' _really_ hot right now—Ow!"

Hiroaki shook his hand to alleviate the small amount of pain caused by its sudden unexpected collision with Jin's face, and cocked an eyebrow as he looked at Kagami. "You don't have to stay here with us, you know; the guy's'll be back any minute now. You're still in school; you should go out and have fun with kids your own age while you can. I know you were looking forward to that party you were talking about earlier..."

Kagami paused, looking out the window at the sun, just starting to set. She wondered briefly if Sachiko had gotten hurt somehow during that big tournament she had entered...Taro had sounded all right, but... "Well, I _am_ kinda worried about 'em..."

"Go on," Hiroaki said. "We'll be all right."

"I don't know..."

"Don't listen to him, Kagami-chan! Come over and sit on the edge of the bed, I wanna measure how you've grown~" Jin said in an exaggerated tone, holding his arms out and making a ridiculous kissy-face.

*pow*

"_Hey_! That _hurt_ dammit! Come on, I'm in a hospital bed!"

"Go on, it's just the morphine talking," Hiroaki said, rubbing his sore knuckles before giving Jin's head another smack for good measure.

"Yeah..."

* * *

><p>Kagami was lost in thought as she approached the dorm, worried about her friends. Sachiko was strong, the strongest of them all. Sachiko leveled out the group; when Kagami was angsting about her troubles with magic, Sachiko had been there, supporting her from behind. When Taro started to go wild, it was always Sachiko who brought her back down to earth. In fact, after Possum's disappearance, it was Sachiko who had kept Taro from freaking out and trying to tear the town apart to find her. She climbed the stairs and stepped through the doorway. The dorm's lobby was, understandably enough with the Second Day Party mere minutes away, crowded with girls on their way out. She worked her way through the crowd and went up the stairs, forced several times to press against the wall to let hordes of girls pass by on their way down, and finally made her way up to the floor that held the rooms of her entire class. Now, which one was Sachiko assigned to...? She walked along the hallway, looking at the doorplates until she spotted the other girl's room and knocked on the door. A moment later, it was opened by Sachiko's roommate, Sato Gin, who, like Kagami and the others, underwent training regularly in Eva's resort, though under a different master.<p>

Gin opened the door a crack to see who had knocked, then opened it wider when she recognized Kagami, though she didn't open it wide enough for Kagami to enter. "What is it? Is something wrong?" she asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

Kagami cocked an eyebrow at the other girl. While she wasn't particularly fond of Sato, mostly because the other girl was so standoffish, they were at the very least on speaking terms due to the simple fact that they shared one vital piece of information: namely, that magic was real. Still, they may have been fellow trainees, but they rarely got along. "I was looking for Sachiko. Is she here?"

Gin opened the door further and stepped back, allowing Kagami to enter. Once she was inside, Gin quickly shut the door and locked it; she was one of the few members of the class to always keep her door locked. She turned to Kagami, looking troubled. "Did you watch the tournament?"

Kagami shook her head. "No, I was out with my brother and his friends, showing him around the city. All I know is that Kugimiya Madoka won... Why, did something happen?"

Gin paced back and forth for a moment, wringing her hands. "Well...you know that singer, Kakizaki Misa?" She waited for Kagami to nod before continuing. "Her sister Hatsune participated in the tournament, and, well...she beat up the class rep pretty bad. Made fun of her too."

Kagami couldn't help but notice the bitter tone in Sato's voice. "But...she beat up Sachiko? ...how? _Nobody _can beat Sachiko but Asuna-sensei!"

Gin shook her head. "I know, but that Hatsune woman beat her _bad_. Konoka-san was there acting as a nurse though, so she patched her back up when no one was around. I know Taro-kun was with her, but I haven't seen her since."

"Wow..." Kagami hadn't thought she'd ever hear such a thing. A regular person who could beat Sachiko in a fight...? She would have thought it impossible, but if there was one thing she knew about Sato Gin, it was the fact that Sato didn't lie, not about anything important. "You haven't heard anything else?"

Gin shook her head and checked her watch, and Kagami noticed for the first time that Sato was dressed up rather nicely; her top was pretty cute, actually, and her jeans fit her well. She cocked her head to the side.

"What?" Gin asked, crossing her arms defensively.

"Do you have a date?" Kagami asked, noting with interest the way the other girl's cheeks were suddenly tinged pink as she looked away.

"It's not a date."

"Not a date?" Kagami repeated. Any further questioning was cut off, however, by the sound of someone knocking quietly on the door. Gin gave her one last glare and rushed over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it just enough to peek out before abruptly opening it wide, allowing fellow classmate and magical trainee Mako Sylvester to enter the room. Gin shut the door after her and locked it.

"...huh," Kagami said thoughtfully as she looked at Mako. She rather liked Mako; the other girl was shy, but friendly enough once you got to know her. They had gotten along quite well once they both started training, Kagami thought. "Hello."

Mako looked down at the floor shyly, clearly embarrassed at finding Kagami also present in Sato's room. "H-hello..."

Kagami looked from Mako to Gin and back, noting Mako's carefully chosen outfit and comparing it with Gin's, and smiled. "Well, I guess I should leave you two to your date; have fun, Sato-san, Mako-chan~" she said in a teasing tone as she unlocked the door and stepped outside into the hallway, smirking at Sato's final shout of "It's not a date!"

Buoyed by the amusing experience, Kagami strolled along the hallway until she made her way to Taro's room, where she knocked on the door. "Taro-kun? Are you in there?"

After a brief pause, Taro replied with a hesitant "Yeah..."

Kagami tried the door only to find it locked, and frowned. "Is Sachiko in there? Can I come in?"

After a lengthy wait, Taro said "Okay..."

Now that the dorm was mostly empty with everyone else already on their way to the party, Kagami could hear the sounds of someone moving around for a moment, a few whispers, and then, clearly, a sob. A moment passed and then the door was cracked open. Taro peeked out at her, biting her lip in uncharacteristic nervousness, then opened the door a little further and stuck her head out to look up and down the hallway, which was deserted. When she saw it was clear, she opened the door wide and allowed Kagami to enter the room.

The first thing Kagami noticed upon entering was the stacks upon stacks of cardboard boxes, labeled in Taro's messy handwriting with things like 'PS1', 'PS2', 'C64', 'Master System', and others, as well as the wide array of gaming systems with cords wrapped around them stacked up in messy piles around the small television set, which itself had been placed atop an orange crate turned up on its side, likewise crammed with old gaming systems; Kagami could only recognize two or three, but she had never been much of a gamer. Her gaze swept to the thick curtains over the room's single window and on to the bunk beds, the lower of which was covered in boxes labeled in a manner similar to the others. What caught her attention, however, was the shape hiding under the blanket on the top bunk. Kagami looked from the lump to Taro and back. "Is that Sachiko?" she asked, whispering.

Taro nodded and took her aside. "Look," she whispered, "Sachiko's got a lot of problems, okay? That...that _bitch_ messed with her head during the fight."

Kagami couldn't help but stare. It wasn't often that Taro used such strong language, especially with such venom in her tone. But wait... "What do you mean?" she whispered back.

Taro practically snarled at the memory of it, but quickly recovered and started to explain. "She made her feel stupid, like she's useless. She made her feel like all of her training was pointless, and her trainer was a failure. She tore her apart. But what's worse is that she could predict everything Sachiko tried to do, and humiliated her in front of everybody..." Taro went on to describe the match in detail while Kagami listened on, appalled at the behavior of her hero's sister.

Kagami took another glance at the shape hiding under the blanket and her heart went out to the other girl. Sachiko had been very, very fond of the man who had taught her the modified form of capoeira she used, and she had devoted a lot of time to mastering it; to have such an important part of who she was treated with such contempt would be bad enough, but to have her pride crushed as well by someone who was so antagonistic, not to mention the ease with which the woman had done it...Kagami had a strong urge to Twilight Breaker Hatsune, Misa-sama's sister or not, all the way to China. Sachiko was her friend...

"Did you wanna stay here tonight too?" Taro asked. Kagami glanced at her thoughtfully, and nodded.

Taro heaved a sigh. "Guess I'll hafta find a futon somewhere..."

* * *

><p>In an office in a secret underground complex six thousand miles away in the United States, a tired man in what would be a snazzy suit if he chose to wear it properly sat behind a desk, filling out paperwork. He reached up and loosened his already loose tie further before swearing under his breath and taking it off completely. He tossed it aside and swept his hand through his shiny black hair. Byron the Water Mage, as he was called, was already well into his forties, an age in which many men began to notice with sorrow their formerly jet black hair turning to gray, but his was still as dark as it had been as a teen; his appearance was actually very youthful for his age, in a way that left strangers unable to tell just how old he might have been. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and glanced up at the thermostat, which was, as it had been all day, set to seventy degrees.<p>

"Damn..." he muttered. He took up his pen again and signed the final form, one that had been due in two days ago, and dropped it into his outbox. "Friggin desk job; I never should've agreed to go off street duty..." he muttered as he stood up and stretched. He was a tall man, strongly built, and his suit had been fitted by a master tailor; he looked to be in the prime of his life. "Why is it so damn _hot_ in here?" he demanded of the empty office. He held his hand up in front of the vent that let in cold air and frowned. "Cold air...Do I have a fever?" he wondered aloud as he touched his forehead. He sighed. "Friggin boring shit; I'm gettin' too old for this..." He took up his discarded suit jack and tie and slipped on his sunglasses before heading to the door.

He opened the door and stepped outside, nodding at his secretary, a cute young thing with a penchant for blowing stuff up; he had hand-picked her from the 'Dirty Dozen', as they were called: troublemakers who were on the verge of being sent to the ermine farms in Mundus Magicus for disobeying orders or other crimes. She gave him a startled look.

"Sire, are you alright?" she asked, coming halfway up out of her chair, her pretty eyes wide in surprise.

Byron turned to look at her as he walked by his desk, a witty retort on his lips, when his legs suddenly stopped obeying him and he found himself on his hands and knees on the floor. "What...?"

"Sir...!" the secretary said, frightened. Byron couldn't blame her; for years he had been the very epitome of the healthy manly man. Hell, he hadn't even had a cold in a decade or more...! He was a little frightened himself. He looked down at his hands, his arms and legs shaking, and he finally began to get an inkling of what might be wrong.

"Sarah," he ground out between clenched teeth as he felt his body temperature rise higher and higher.

"Sir?" she asked, pausing as she held the phone up, in the process of calling for help.

"Schedule a plane to Japan for me when I get out of the hospital," he said shakily as his wildly shaking arms refused to hold him up any longer, finally collapsing and dropping him to the floor on his side. His whole body was shaking now, and it felt as if he was burning up. "And get me a magic sink, _now!_"

"Sir?"

"Now, dammit! The other end's been cut off, and I'm getting overloaded. Get that magic sink here _now_."

"Yes sir!" the girl said.

Byron listened absently, staring at the wall and trying to keep himself calm while the inrush of magic began threatening to overload his system. "Good girl," he muttered as she confirmed the emergency delivery of a magic sink to his office and only then called for medical assistance. 'Heh, I knew there was a reason I liked that girl,' he thought woozily as his vision became almost painfully sharp. The magic sink, that wonderful device that could absorb almost any magic thrown at it, arrived a moment later with a group of frightened techs. Someone helped him up to a seated position while another held his hand up to the cube of greenish blue material. "You'd better let go," he muttered, his speech slurred. The tech hurriedly released his hand and stood back as he let fly with all the excess magic power he could muster. The process itself took several minutes and left him utterly exhausted, propped against the wall by the techs and medical personnel who had arrived in the meantime.

"Sir?"

Byron shook his head to clear it and looked up at his secretary. "What...?"

"Sir, you wanted a plane for Japan...where, exactly?"

"Oh, that's easy," Byron muttered, his head lolling to the side as the medical personnel placed him on a stretcher. "A city called Mahora. One of our agents is there," he said as they took him from the room.

* * *

><p>As the Second Day Party continued on late into the night, Sakurako suddenly stopped what she was doing and looked around at Madoka, who was laughing at a joke Misa had just told. She quickly scanned the crowd filling the world tree plaza and frowned before turning back to Misa and Madoka. "Hey..."<p>

Misa was too busy laughing at her own joke to listen, but Madoka glanced over at her, still smiling at Misa's lame joke. "Something wrong?"

Sakurako looked around the crowd again, and then looked off into the distance toward the east. "Hey...where's Ako?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Yes, much of what was done in the tournament matches were wrestling moves, in case you didn't know. Also, if you don't know who Byron is, give "For Absent Friends" a read; you can find it on this site in my profile. Poor, poor Ako._


	15. Ch 12 Festival Third Day pt 1 Friends

**Still Waters 3 Book 2, Chapter 12: Friends**

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><p><em>Sunday, June 28th, 2009, Morning<em>

* * *

><p>Morning of the festival's third day came all too soon for those who had spent half the night partying, not to mention those too excited about the rapidly approaching final day's events to sleep properly. For Kobayashi Ayumi, however, something entirely different was responsible for keeping her up all night.<p>

* * *

><p>Ayumi stared blankly at the window as sunlight creeped in through the cracks in the blinds. It couldn't be morning already...could it? She pulled the blanket back over her head again and flicked her cell phone open. No missed calls. Also, the time on the cell phone confirmed what the sunlight had already told her. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes and looked at her cell phone again, as she had done countless times during the night.<p>

Misa-sama _still _hadn't called.

Ayumi had run through what must have been thousands of explanations for such a baffling thing, but in the dark hours of the night, those explanations had become more and more vicious, more and more painful. Explanations ranging from the rather pleasant idea that Misa hadn't called to congratulate her because she had simply misplaced her cell phone to the much more disturbing thought that Misa not only didn't like her, but was leading her along. The most hurtful of all, however, had been the horrible thought that Misa-sama...just didn't care.

Ayumi shivered under her blanket and snapped her cell phone shut. A moment later she had it open again, the light reflecting an eerie blue glow on her face in the darkness under the blanket, revealing tear streaks and puffy eyes, bloodshot and focused a little too intently for comfort. Her concentration was abruptly shattered when one of her roommate's alarm clocks went off. She quickly curled up under the blanket and pulled it more tightly around herself, making sure her whole body was covered as she brought the cell phone closer to her face, the light from the screen fully illuminating her face.

She heard Rosemary groan and swat at the alarm clock, which fell to the floor with a solid _thump_ and continued to ring. Miyako's bed creaked and she said something Ayumi couldn't quite make out, and Rosemary responded in an annoyed tone, the words lost in the ringing of the alarm clock, which ended just as quickly as it had begun a few seconds later. Rosemary mumbled something in English that Ayumi couldn't understand, though she sounded annoyed. Miyako's bed creaked again, and Ayumi knew she was getting up for the day. She felt a brief instant of regret for the way she had snapped at the girl when she returned to the dorm room the night before, cutting off whatever Miyako had been about to say to her, but it quickly faded under the sheer aggravation of Miyako and Rosemary wandering around the dorm room, making enough noise for a herd of elephants.

Ayumi focused all her attention on the screen of her cell phone while her roommates got ready for the day in their typical quick manner. Ayumi had just flipped her cell phone open again when she felt a presence draw near.

"Ayumi...? I wanted to tell you something; are you awake?" Miyako asked softly, as if she didn't want to wake her.

Ayumi ignored her, focusing on her cell phone instead, and Miyako soon moved away from the bed. Ayumi listened absently while Miyako and Rosemary started to make small talk as one of them opened the door. Ayumi heard something to the effect of "-zaki-san wanted me to tell her-", and then they stepped through and shut the door behind them, cutting off their quiet conversation mid-sentence. The room was plunged back into silence, and Ayumi looked at her cell phone again.

* * *

><p>In another room further down the hall, another girl slowly became aware of a cool presence snug against her side as she rose up out of the depths of slumber.<p>

Kagami lay there in the top bunk for a long, long moment, only vaguely aware of the pair of arms wrapped tightly around her and the body pressed close, staring at the ceiling as she tried to figure out where she was.

'Last night I was in the hospital with Jin-kun and Hiro-nii, and then Taro-kun called, and...oh.' She turned her head to look at whoever she was sharing a bed with, and found not one, but two bedmates. She blinked stupidly at Sachiko, who had her head buried in Kagami's side, and sighed as she recalled how torn up the normally unflappable class rep had been the previous night; she had been such a mess she had refused to come out from under the blanket on Taro's bed, and Taro and Kagami had ultimately climbed up top and gotten under Taro's extra large blanket with her. Kagami could remember talking with Taro most of the night while Sachiko listened quietly, her hands always in contact with one or the other of them. She was still half asleep and couldn't quite remember any details of what they talked about, but she did recall realizing Sachiko was asleep when she cuddled into her side and let out a quiet sound. Kagami had wanted to climb back down, but ultimately decided against it, as doing so would wake up the class rep, who had really been a wreck...they must have fallen asleep at some point.

Sachiko squirmed a little and Kagami laid still until the girl settled back down again. She looked over at Taro, lying on the other side, hogging the blanket, and covered her mouth to stifle the giggles that threatened to erupt at the sight of the girl the rest of the class was terrified of lying on the other side of the class rep with a little drool coming out of the corner of her mouth, sleeping like a baby. She turned her attention back to Sachiko, thinking about what she had learned of the girl the previous night, and the utterly unexpected side she had shown. Kagami had to admit that, although they had trained together for what had to have been _months _in resort-time, she had barely known Taro, much less Sachiko, who always maintained a certain distance with everyone. Last night, that distance had vanished; Kagami and Taro had comforted her in her darkest hour, they had seen her at her lowest. Contrary to the perfect image she did her best to maintain, Sachiko was a normal girl: she had hopes, she had dreams, she had fears and, just like everybody else, she had a big crush on Negi-sensei...there were no more secrets between them. Kagami had in turn told Sachiko and Taro about her past, her yakuza connections, what had happened to her parents... Taro had responded in kind, and Kagami couldn't help but frown at the behavior of the Urashima branch families, tossing Taro from place to place whenever she got in a fight or caused a little trouble.

Sachiko let out a small sound and stretched, then curled her head deeper into Kagami's side, her arm tightening around Kagami before suddenly jerking to a standstill; she quickly withdrew her arm.

"Good morning, Sachiko," Kagami said absently.

Sachiko offered a hesitant, muffled "Good morning" from somewhere in the region of Kagami's diaphragm. Kagami pushed herself up enough to free Sachiko's other arm, which had been trapped under her, and then settled back down while Sachiko moved to lay on her back in the middle of the bed.

"Ah...Mochizuki-san...about-"

Kagami rolled her eyes and elbowed the class rep in the side. "Come on, call me Kagami. We're friends, right? Especially after last night." She glanced over at Sachiko and caught her looking at her, just catching the tinge of pink in Sachiko's cheeks before she quickly turned her head away.

"...thank you..." Sachiko said quietly, looking so cute and shy that Kagami almost couldn't stand it.

"C'mere you!" Kagami exclaimed as she rolled over on top of Sachiko, grabbed her, and rolled back, taking her friend's protesting form with her as she laughed. Taro woke up, dragged up out of a deep, peaceful sleep by the noise and violent motion, and blinked blearily at Kagami, laughing as she rolled around on the bed, clinging to the feebly protesting Sachiko.

"Um..."

Kagami paused in her molestation of the class rep and turned her bright eyes on Taro, grinning. "Hehe~"

"H-hey! Don't do—wah! Come on Kagami let go!"

Soon, the trio had settled down and lay there on the bed, Kagami squeezing the other two close, halfway under her.

"Thanks, you guys," she said quietly.

"Thanks for what?" Taro asked, feeling awkward at the unexpectedly physical side of Kagami's affections and wondering, yet again, if her suspicions from the first day of the festival about Kagami's sexuality had been correct after all; the redhead seemed to love hugging and getting hugged.

"I've never really had friends my own age before," Kagami said after another moment's snuggling. "Just the guys," she said, referring to the members of her brother's yakuza group. "The girls at school would try to suck up or stay away; nobody really wanted to be my friend because they liked me, they just wanted my money..."

Taro blinked. "Money?"

Kagami nodded, tugging the other two closer. "Yep. I think it's only a couple hundred million yen, but they-"

"A couple _hundred million yen_?" Taro asked, aghast. Sure, some of the Urashima family could be considered wealthy—not that she had ever seen any of it—but a couple hundred million yen was a couple hundred million yen. "Wow...! I could buy _so many _games with that..."

* * *

><p>"Hey hey! Kichirou-nii! I'm gonna go out and see the festival, okay?" a young cat youkai said, her pointed ears standing high as she smiled at her big brother in his hospital bed in the secret underground area commonly used for treating the victims of less than normal incidents.<p>

Kichirou sighed. "I really wish you wouldn't, Ryoko..." He was still bed-bound, under treatment for the infection he had allowed to spread by refusing to search for treatment until it was almost too late. The only reason he had managed to survive, in fact, was because his little sister had gone out searching for help when he had been weak with fever.

Ryoko turned her big, tear-filled eyes on her brother, her bottom lip quivering. "But it's only once a year!"

He tried to hold out against that pitiful display, he really tried, but ultimately his instinct to give his little sister anything she could ever want overrode his instinct to lock her up for own protection and he sighed. "...fine. But promise me, Ryoko! If anything happens or you get scared, you are to come back here right away! There are going to be other youkai around too, for _our_ festival. I want you to stay away from any fox youkai you see, okay?"

Ryoko cocked her head to the side, clearly having no clue what he was talking about. "'Kay! I'm gonna go now, get some rest Kichirou-nii!" She was out the door an instant later, almost running over the woman who came to check up on him.

"So," Minamoto Shizuna said as she sat down on a chair and began flipping pages in a clipboard. "I have some more questions; but first, I take it your sister is going out to explore?"

Kichirou sighed again and nodded.

"Understood; I will send someone to watch over her."

* * *

><p>Onyx Blight, traveling freelance mercenarybodyguard/jack-of-all-trades, groaned as the sunlight filtered through the window blinds in the shabby motel room he was sharing with six other youkai. He raised his arm just enough to flop it over his eyes to block out the sun, knocking over a half-empty beer bottle in the process. It rolled a few feet before bumping into several others with a series of clinking sounds, and he groaned again.

"Oh my head..."

"That's what you get for drinking too much," his older brother Morrison, also a traveling freelance mercenary/bodyguard/jack-of-all-trades, said as he stepped out of the bathroom, making a discreet smirk. Several of the other youkai, mostly fellow members of the Black Fox tribe, though there was a Red present as well, began to stir, and someone asked what time it was.

Morrison glanced at the alarm clock no one had bothered to set. "A little after eight. Come on Onyx," he said, turning back to his brother. "We've got work to do."

Onyx blinked at him, holding his hand up to block the light from the bathroom, wondering why he found it so difficult to think. "Ugh...my head is killing me..."

"Like I said, that's what you get. Here, it'll take the edge off," Morrison said, tossing a jar of some thick green liquid to Onyx, who opened it, took a sniff, and make a disgusted face. "Oh don't be a baby; drink it and let's go. Here's your gear," Morrison said, holding up Onyx's bag to illustrate his point before tossing it at his younger brother's midsection. "Come on."

Onyx chugged the foul-smelling liquid, the taste nearly making him vomit, but after a moment he felt his head start to clear. It wasn't much, but it _was_ enough to let him think properly, and recall why the two of them had even come to Mahora in the first place. "Oh, right...those two cats."

"Yes, 'those two cats'," Morrison replied as he checked his various backup weapons, a process that took several minutes. If there was one thing Morrison Blight believed in, it was the usefulness of a backup weapon; if there was one thing he had learned through the years, two backup weapons were better than one, and three were better still. Long, bitter experience had taught him that a knife could always be dropped or knocked out of the hand, a gun could always jam, and in the middle of a fight there wasn't always time to pick up a fallen weapon or clear a stovepiped round, and since, like many of the Black Fox tribe, he had never been much good with magic, he tended to go around armed to the teeth, usually to the extent that it took him quite a long while to get ready to go out in the mornings. His brother Onyx didn't quite share his leanings on that particular subject, however, and was content with a single knife as a backup weapon; all due to his confidence in his ability with magic, no doubt.

"Are you sure they're here?" Onyx asked as he tightened his belt.

"I tracked 'em here," Morrison replied absently as he checked his pockets for the various things he always carried around. 'Lighter...fishing line...pencil...garrote...' This went on for a long moment before he paused. "Oh yeah," he said. "Forgot my I.D."

* * *

><p>Mahora Girls' Middle School P.E. teacher Max Linell, a.k.a. 'Scary Max-sensei' even among those who had never been among his students, walked along the sidewalk, glaring at everything in general and anything that crossed his path in particular, occasionally muttering something angrily to himself in his low, gravelly voice as he went. This, combined with his pale skin, unruly black hair, and 6'6" frame, ensured most people not only left him alone but steered wide around him, and the rumor soon got out that 'Scary Max-sensei is really mad this morning'.<p>

It was true, of course. Max Linell was _extremely_ annoyed, and the source of his annoyance was walking along ten feet behind him, watching his every move.

Max stopped walking, took a deep breath to calm himself, and turned to face the young fire mage and the girl. "Look, Cyrr, I don't know you, I've never even _seen_ you before. I'm not going to go to Mundus Magicus either, not with _you_. So why in the _friggin hell are you still following me?_" he demanded, his voice all but bellowing by the time he finished.

Cyrr tensed as if ready to fight, grinning wildly, but retained enough of his common sense to step in front of Anya, who, after the disastrous meeting with Negi, Misa, and Misa's sister at the world tree on the first day of the festival, had decided to stick around with Cyrr in the hopes of making Negi jealous. Thus far, this had translated to her following Cyrr while he followed Max, who was often in the company of several others, sometimes Akira, sometimes Jennifer, sometimes even Yuuna or Makie or even Negi or Kotarou and the ones who followed _them_, leading to quite long trains of people wandering around. Much to Anya's frustration, Negi hadn't even seemed to notice, and seemed to think Cyrr was her boyfriend, and though he hadn't exactly spoken the words aloud, the pleased expression on Negi's face when he watched the two of them interacting said it all.

Max found the whole situation oddly infuriating, and had to constantly fight the urge to, well, fight Cyrr. Something about the irritating upstart fire mage really got on Max's nerves, and he couldn't figure out why. From the way he took care of Anya, it was obvious he wasn't a bad guy, but he was just so _aggravating_...he actually seemed like a decent guy, but his mere _presence_ never failed to drive Max up the wall.

Cyrr met his gaze defiantly and refused to back down. "I told you, I have to figure out if you're likely to go rogue. The Fire Master needs to know."

Max glared.

Cyrr glared back.

Glare.

Glare.

_Glare._

_Glare._

**Glare.**

**Glare.**

"Look, if you two don't mind, I'm really hungry. Can we get some breakfast?" Anya asked irritably. She had come to Mahora to land Negi, not to follow a couple of brute fire mages around for three days, and it was starting to get on her nerves. As a fellow fire mage, she herself had also taken on some aspects of the stereotypical fire mage's personality, mostly the whole thing about being easily irritated by idiots. As the trio stepped inside a nearby cafe and found a table at which Max and Cyrr could glare at each other in air conditioned comfort while she ate her breakfast, Anya wondered idly if it was true that fire mages took on those particular personality aspects, or whether those personality aspects drew them to fire magic in the first place... She was startled out of her thoughts when someone called out to the group.

"Oh! Hello Max-sensei, Anya-chan!" Natsumi said as she hurried over from behind the counter, smiling at the trio. "And who is this?" she asked, grinning brightly at Anya before looking up at Cyrr, who, like Max, towered above her.

"Cyrr," Cyrr said, looking down at the diminutive woman curiously.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you! I'm Murakami Natsumi, I'm the manager here. Did you want a table?" she asked, turning back to Anya.

Anya gaped at her. Since when did that mousy girl Murakami Natsumi become so...so outgoing? And why was she the manager of a cafe? Didn't she used to want to be an actress or something...? She snapped out of it a moment later and nodded. "Yes, please."

Natsumi smiled winningly and led them to a nice secluded corner table. Anya idly examined what looked surprisingly like bullet holes in one of the strangely thick windows before shrugging it off and sliding in to sit next to Cyrr, where she picked up the menu Natsumi had left.

"Ooh, the Western-style Breakfast Plate looks good," she said, then looked up at Cyrr. Who was glaring at Max. Who was glaring back. Anya sighed and waved Natsumi over.

"Are you ready to order?" Natsumi asked brightly, her eyes shining as she looked from Anya to Cyrr and back.

Anya gave her an odd look, but continued. "Yes, please. I would like the Western-style Breakfast Plate." She nudged Cyrr, who looked down at her, then up at Natsumi, then back to Anya.

"...huh?"

Anya turned back to Natsumi. "He wants the same."

Natsumi nodded, smiling wide, and turned to Max.

"Same," he said.

"Gotcha. Three Western-style Breakfast Plates, coming up!" Natsumi said.

An awkward silence descended on the table while Max and Cyrr glared at each other until Anya just couldn't take it anymore and smacked Cyrr upside the head.

"What was that for?" he demanded as he gave her an irritated look, rubbing the back of his head.

Anya narrowed her eyes and cocked an eyebrow as she looked at him. "Are you serious? I mean sure, he's big and suspicious and scary-looking," she said, gesturing at Max, who looked taken aback at her description, "but he's been Negi's friend for _years_, so I _know_ he's not _that_ bad."

Cyrr was still trying to formulate a suitable retort when Natsumi came back, carrying their orders. "Here you go," she said as she laid them out. "I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think, okay?" She smiled brightly and left them to eat their breakfast in silence.

Anya sighed and tucked into her plate.

* * *

><p>Kai was walking along on her way to the site of the band stage to watch them setting up, minding her own business and trying to ignore the sensation that youkai were <em>everywhere<em>, when someone let out a wolf whistle behind her and she could feel half a dozen youkai rapidly coming closer. She hunched her shoulders slightly and began walking faster, and they sped up. She was getting ready to take off at a sprint when one darted in front of her and forced her to either stop or run into him as he grinned lecherously at her.

Kai did her best to hide the utter terror coursing through her veins and somehow managed to gather the force of will to look the young youkai in the eye. "Did you need something...?" Several of the others giggled or laughed and one of those behind her flipped her skirt. "Hey!" she shouted, swatting at his hand, only to have her skirt flipped again from the other side by another one when she wasn't looking. She gave him a shove, and then the one who had stepped in front of her shoved her. She bumped into a youkai who was on his hands and knees behind her and let out a squawk as she fell over backward, bumping her head on the concrete. The leader grabbed her by the ankles before she could recover and lifted her up, letting her skirt fall upside down, revealing the bicycle shorts she had wisely put on that morning. She quickly tried to hold her skirt in position...a daunting task in her current position.

"You know, you've got real nice legs for an oni," the leader said.

"L-let go of me!" Kai demanded as she tried to jerk away. Unfortunately, held up as she was she could get no leverage, and the other youkai just laughed.

"'Let go of me~' she says!"

"'Oh~let go~uhu~un'," another said in a girly falsetto tone while several of the others burst into laughter.

"Okay, I'll let you go!" the leader said playfully, dropping her on her head. Kai let out a cry that set the youkai laughing wildly, and then she was jerked to her feet and shoved back and forth a few times before one of the larger ones heaved her up on his shoulders, laughing as he spun her wildly around until she cried out. He abruptly set her down on her feet and she staggered, dizzy and terrified, into the leader, who put his arms around her tight, preventing any stumbling attempt at escape. He was tall, quite a bit taller than her own 5'5", and very strong.

"Hey," he said, grinning. "That's a _nice_ hat. I've always wanted one like that," he said.

"He's right, it's _real _nice," another one said, yanking off the beret Kai had decided to wear that morning. She let out another cry as the hat, which she had pinned on, was ripped off, revealing her hair, wrapped up in two balls to hide her oni horns. "Ooh, look at that!"

"Hey, I wonder what they look like~"

"Hey hey," one said, nudging his friend. "Do you think it's true that oni girls get turned on when you touch their horns?"

His friend grinned lecherously. "Wanna try it out?"

Kai, still a little stunned from being dropped on her head, felt her blood freeze up in her veins. "N-no! You can't! Get away from me!" she screamed as they crept nearer, kicking at anyone that got close as they took their time, deliberately drawing the situation out.

"'No~get away~'," said one.

"'You can't~Kya~a~'," his friend said, then laughed.

Kai squeezed her eyes shut, trying to work up the nerve to do...something, anything, but she was just too scared, her mind had locked up and she couldn't do anything but scream. "H...Help me! _Help!_" she screamed at the top of her lungs, startling the leader enough to let her go. However, with a wall behind and a ring of youkai if front of her and to the sides, she had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. She was getting ready to scream again, louder, when someone ran out of a side alley screaming his lungs out.

"No! Get away from her!"

Kai had a brief glimpse of a familiar face, one she had seen only the day before, one that had stolen her first kiss, as he came rocketing in and slammed into one of the youkai. The two of them fell to the ground and the other youkai rushed him, Kai temporarily forgotten. She watched, too stunned with surprise to do anything but gape, as the young youkai who had kissed her tried in vain to fight off six determined attackers.

"Come on, Nevon you gold asshole! Is that the best you got?" the leader cried out as he kicked the youkai in the side.

The youkai on the ground lashed out with a kick to the leg that knocked the leader down. "You guys shouldn't be doing this! Just leave her alone!"

The youkai, apparently named Nevon, was promptly punched in the face while the others laughed and called him things like 'Oni-lover' and 'horn-man'.

One particularly vicious kick to his ribs that made him cry out finally snapped her out of her stupor and she finally realized he had just tried to save her, and was getting the crap kicked out of himself for it.

Almost without even realizing what she was doing, Kai ran at the tight cluster of bullies, swinging wildly; her left fist hit someone in the shoulder hard enough to make him cry out, her right fist slammed down on the side of the leader's head as he kicked the youkai who had tried to save her, and then she was among them, swinging her fists at anything that moved as she stood over the the boy who had tried to save her.

The other youkai quickly retreated to a safe distance, nursing their surprisingly extensive wounds, and ran off with a few threats of 'We'll remember this!' when Kai raised her fists threateningly. Finally left alone, she quickly backed away from the fallen youkai, who was trying to get back to his feet. He had made it halfway up before his dazed eyes fell on Kai and abruptly widened, and he shot back down to the ground, kowtowing.

Kai gaped at the boy. '...is he crazy? Did they kick him in the head?' "Um..."

"I'm sorry!" he said frantically.

Kai blinked. Was he...afraid of her? "Um, look, I'm not going to hit you or anything, so...just...get back up, okay? That's embarrassing..."

The youkai shook his head. "No, I'm sorry! About yesterday! I don't know what came over me, but I really didn't mean to kiss you! I don't know why it happened! You're just so pretty and I'm so, so sorry, and...and I couldn't even help you and even got beaten up, but just...I'm sorry..." he said, finally trailing off in such a pitiable manner that Kai had to look away.

"Look, get up okay? Stand up," she said nervously, her eyes darting around as she watched to make sure the other youkai weren't coming back. When he was again upright she stood there in front of him, her arms crossed nervously, looking off to the side at nothing in particular, her gaze occasionally straying slowly back to his face and swiftly away again.

"I'm sorry," he said again, wiping some blood from a small cut on his forehead.

"It's..." Kai said, trailing off when she realized she wasn't sure what to say. Her first instinct had been to say it was okay, but it _wasn't_ okay, not really; he had not only kissed her without her permission, but he had also stolen her first kiss...what he had done was almost unforgivable.

Almost.

He _had_ taken a big risk to get those bullies away from her, and received a beating for it as well. Still...

The thought that he may have set her up just now to improve his standing with her crossed her mind but was quickly dismissed. He had proven himself capable of catching her the day before; to go to such lengths wouldn't make much sense.

Kai frowned.

"I, ah...I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I mean, I didn't mean to, to do what I did, and if I could make it up to you I would, but I don't know how or even if I could, so I just...I mean..." Nevon said, trailing off when his babbling became too awkward even for him.

"Just..." Kai started, her arms crossed tightly as she looked at a pebble on the ground off to her right to avoid looking at the cute boy standing across from her. "Y...you can't kiss me without permission," she finished weakly.

Nevon quickly looked away, a heavy blush forming in his cheeks. "Yeah...I'm sorry...I'm really sorry about that," he said, pausing when he spotted the beret she had been wearing, a somewhat oversized black thing, lying on the ground. He trotted over and picked it up, and turned back to Kai as he tried to dust it off. "Look, um...here," he said, holding it out as he approached.

Kai's gaze strayed from the beret up to Nevon's anguished face and she quickly looked away, shaking her head. "N-no, you can keep it. It'll just bring bad memories if I hang onto it."

Nevon blinked at her, looked down at the beret, and turned beat red. "U-um, I'm not sure-"

"It's okay," Kai said, looking anywhere but at Nevon. Why was he so _cute_? She found herself wandering what his horns would look like if he were an oni instead of a youkai, but quickly shook that traitorous thought away. "J-just wear it. Wear it until you go home as a punishment!" she said, then turned and ran, her long legs carrying her away almost before he even realized she had started running.

Nevon blinked in the general direction in which she had gone, looked down curiously at the hat, and gingerly reached up and put it on his head. He looked at his reflection in a dusty window and repositioned the odd, somewhat out-of-shape beret, and cocked his head to the side. It...wasn't _that_ bad. And...and it was from _her_. He spent a moment adjusting the hat, looking for the best way to wear it, and stood back from the window to better see his reflection. He couldn't help but make a dopey grin as he considered the hat. She had _given _it to him, to _him_! He would definitely wear it until he got home, maybe even after.

* * *

><p>Ryoko flitted about from booth to booth, ooh-ing and aah-ing at everything she could see, utterly careless of the fact that her ears and tail were visible. Luckily for her, far stranger things were about during the infamous Mahorafest than a single girl with cat ears and a tail. She would, unfortunately, never be mistaken as highly intelligent, clever, witty, or even 'quick'; in fact, she was quite stupid and rather unperceptive. So much so, in fact, that she had no clue she was being followed.<p>

* * *

><p>Morrison and Onyx leaned idly against the wall beside a food stand, appearing for all the world like two extras for the costume parade out killing time, while they watched Ryoko dart from stand to stand in the rather large plaza they had found themselves in.<p>

"So where do you think the other one is?" Onyx asked, then took another bite of meat from the skewer he had bought a moment before. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was good; as far as Onyx was concerned, that was all that mattered...unless it was something gross like a chicken gizzard or a cow's tongue or something weird like that.

Morrison took a sip of his drink and glanced around the plaza. "I don't see 'im. Masashi said he had been injured; he might be dead, but he's probably just laid up somewhere. We can probably convince her to tell us where he is after we catch her. There she goes; let's go."

"Yeah," Onyx said, tossing his empty wooden skewer at a nearby trash can. It bounced off the edge and disappeared somewhere into the passing throng of people, so he gave up on retrieving it and followed his brother as Morrison stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled in the general direction the cat girl had gone.

* * *

><p>A wooden yakitori skewer rolled to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk in front of a girl from the middle school. She paused, frowning as she looked in the direction the stick had come from and spotted two strange men strolling away. She didn't quite know why, but something in her head simply <em>screamed<em> 'danger' at the sight of them... As far as stupid ideas go, following the two strange, dangerous looking men was probably pretty high up the list, but the thought of leaving them alone only for them to perhaps commit some terrible crime was too horrible to be considered. She picked up the stick and dropped it into the nearby trash receptacle, and set off after them. Far off on a distant rooftop, another girl in a witch hat spotted her and swore, grabbed her broom, and cast a simple illusion spell to make herself all but invisible as she leaped off the rooftop and zipped along high above.

* * *

><p>Ryoko wandered into an alleyway, looking around in amazement at the sudden change in scenery from brightly colored street vendors and balloons everywhere to the dark, dingy alley. She went halfway down the alley, looking for an exit in the concrete wall before her, before turning around, only to see two large, dark shapes standing in the entry to the alleyway.<p>

"Um..."

"Yagi Ryoko, correct?" the shorter one asked, stepping forward.

"Yes?" Ryoko answered, nervously backing away as the shape advanced.

"We are bounty hunters; we're here to take you into custody."

The shape motioned to his companion, who also stepped forward. Together, the two of them approached, moving to the sides to cover any attempt at escape. Ryoko backed up, looking fearfully from one to the other, until she bumped into the wall at the end of the dead end alley. "U-um...p-please let me go?"

The two shapes finally came close enough for her eyes to focus on them over the glare of sunlight in the plaza, and her eyes widened and her ears flattened out as she recognized them as fox youkai. 'Kichirou-nii said to run away if I saw any fox youkai, but I can't!' she thought frantically as she looked up at the wall behind her; it was easily fifty feet tall, another building entirely, far higher than she could jump. She turned back to the two fox youkai and shrunk back into a corner at their approach. Terrified, she curled up into a ball in the corner and wrapped her arms around her head. "P-please! Just leave me alone! I didn't do anything bad, I promise!"

* * *

><p>Onyx glanced over at Morrison and their eyes met; the expression of distaste on Morrison's face told Onyx exactly what he felt about this job. Nevertheless, it was a job they had accepted, and they had to finish it or risk getting their (almost) spotless reputation ruined. Masashi was the one who had hired them, after all, and he held a great deal of influence among the fox tribes. Still...<p>

Onyx sighed. "It doesn't matter," he said, trying to sound cold and indifferent to the girl's eventual fate. He knew he wasn't fooling anyone, however. Only a total moron would be fooled by such a display...

Ryoko let out a wail and started sobbing and Onyx had to fight the urge to slam his head into the wall.

"Hey! Quit picking on her, she didn't do anything to you!" someone shouted from the mouth of the alley.

For the second time in the last two seconds, Onyx had to fight the urge to headbutt the brickwork. 'What kind of idiot would think it's a good idea to butt in on a situation like this?'

"Stay out of this little girl, it doesn't concern you," Morrison said, putting on a much better show of being a cold, heartless bastard than Onyx had managed. However, the girl at the entrance to the alley didn't seem to realize what she was getting herself into, and took a step forward.

"I'm warning you, let the girl go!"

Onyx sighed and glanced at his brother, who used a quick jerk of his eyes to indicate that Onyx should take care of Ryoko.

* * *

><p>Student number 9, Hayashi Fujiko, had followed the two suspicious men until they turned off into an alley. Fujiko, somewhat nervously as her common sense tried to kick in, followed them as far as the mouth of the alley, where she waited a moment and peeked around the corner. What she saw was infuriating: two grown men, picking on a little girl, obviously terrified as she sat curled up in the corner with her arms wrapped around her head as if trying to ward off a blow. Everything she believed about what was right and just was being offended here, and she'd be damned if she let it continue...!<p>

Enraged by their shameful behavior, she stepped into the mouth of the alley, her fists clenched. "Hey! Quit picking on her, she didn't do anything to you!" Fujiko shouted at the two strangers.

She began having second thoughts on her current course of action, however, when the shorter of the two turned a baleful glare on her. "Stay out of this little girl, it doesn't concern you."

His expression, the way he was standing, the way he was looking at her...it all sent warning bells ringing like mad in her head, but a good look at the poor girl the two were menacing was enough to keep her from following her instincts and running. 'I want to be a _hero_ dammit, I've always wanted to be one, and this looks like it could get really bad if I left...' she thought frantically as she tried to will herself to move forward another step while trying to work out a plan. Thus far, it looked something like this: Step 1: Enter alley. Step 2: ? Step 3: escape with girl. ...it was that whole 'I have no clue how to do this' thing that she found a little disquieting, and found herself wishing her homeroom teacher was standing beside her; Negi-sensei was strong and smart, he would know what to do. He was good at martial arts too; she had seen him training from time to time during her early morning jogs. She swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke again.

"I'm warning you, let the girl go!"

She didn't know what she could do to these men to make them stop bothering the girl if they didn't stop on their own, and the realization that she might have bitten off more than she could chew left her shaking in her stylish black boots.

The shorter man took a step toward her, and it was all she could do to keep from bolting.

"I'm warning _you_, little girl. Turn around and go home, and no one has to get hurt," he said, his expression dark and merciless.

Fujiko looked from the short man to the girl and back, opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, and a small rock smacked hard into the shorter man's head, staggering him. Startled into action, Fujiko darted forward, performed a rather sharp judo throw on the taller guy when he came at her, and grabbed the cornered girl's wrist. "Come on!" she said, pulling the girl up and turning around only to see the taller man on his feet again and glaring at her while the shorter one rubbed his head where the stone had left a red mark.

"You shouldn't have done that," the taller man said, holding his arms out wide to block any attempt at escape as he came closer.

Fujiko pulled the girl behind her and prepared to throw the guy again when some movement on the rooftop high above caught her eye, and she spotted a dark figure in a pointy hat. An instant later, a small stone smacked hard into the back of the taller man's head, driving him to his knees as he let out a cry. Fujiko dragged the girl with her as she darted around him, only to find herself facing the smaller man, who was quickly brought down by another rock. With the way clear before her, Fujiko took off running for the entrance to the alley, the girl following along as well as she could, gripping Fujiko's hand hard enough to bruise.

Once out of the alley, a brief, strong gust of wind rustled her clothing and made her cover her eyes, and then something snagged her around the middle and she let out a yelp as she was yanked up into the sky and found herself draped over a very unstable flying broomstick, the girl she had saved looking up at her with wide eyes as she hung out over the plaza, clinging to her wrists with ridiculous strength. Fujiko clenched her teeth to keep from crying out.

"Hang on a minute, I'll land us on a building in a minute. Don't let go of her!" a girl's voice said firmly. Fujiko glanced up at her savior and couldn't help but stare. A girl, dressed all in black, a sleeveless shirt, a skirt far short of her knees, tall boots and stockings that didn't quite reach the skirt, long gloves that went most of the way up her arms, and her face hidden from sight in the shadows of a big pointy witch's hat. Fujiko looked back down at the girl she had saved, then past her to the ground so, so far below.

"Don't look down," the girl in the witch hat said.

"...I-I think it's a little too late from that," Fujiko managed to say after a moment, her eyes glued to the ground, horrified at just how _small_ the people looked, walking around down there.

"Hold on down there, we're going just a little higher," the mystery witch girl said as she urged the badly strained broom into a sort of upward spiral in an attempt to gain altitude.

The girl she had saved let out a yelp and Fujiko tried to reinforce her grip, but her hands were slick with sweat and the girl started to slip. She looked up at Fujiko, her eyes pleading as one of Fujiko's hands slipped free, leaving the girl dangling by one hand.

"Nooo...! I don't wanna die...!" she squealed.

"Hurry!" Fujiko screamed at the witch girl, then looked back down at the girl she had saved, noting, absurdly, how the fake cat ears she was wearing looked disturbingly lifelike, pressed back against her head the way they were. Fujiko had seen _real_ cats do that when they were scared...

"Just a little further...!"

"Help me...!"

"There!" the witch girl declared.

At that very instant, Fujiko's grip slipped, the girl she had saved looked up at her in disbelief as she started to fall, reaching up toward her hopelessly, fingers splayed out, and then hit the rooftop ten feet below flat on her back. The girl flying the broomstick dropped down to the rooftop clumsily, dumping Fujiko on her face with a yelp.

"Ow, that hurt..." the witch girl muttered while Fujiko scrambled over to the girl she had saved, who simply laid there, twitching.

"I...I'm alive..." the cat-eared girl finally managed, blinking up at Fujiko.

"Yes," Fujiko said as she helped the girl sit up. "We made it," she said, smiling. Her eyes strayed to the girl's cat ears, which were twitching—_twitching—_and then the girl let out a wail and threw her arms around Fujiko, the long cat's tail Fujiko hadn't noticed before flopping around wildly.

"Waaah! Thank you for saving me from those mean foxes, you're my hero! I thought I was gonna die! _Waaaah!_"

Fujiko was left stunned, not knowing where to put her hands while the cat-eared girl clung to her, a little too tight for comfort.

"I would say you did a good job back there," the witch-girl said as she walked up, "but I'd be lying. You'd probably be dead now if I hadn't been there, Hayashi. You tried, though, so that's good. Plus, we saved _her_."

Fujiko found herself nodding. "Yes, thank...you..." she trailed off. '_Wait_ a minute, did she call me "Hayashi"...?' She tried to peer into the darkness under the brim of the girl's witch hat, but the contrast between the bright blue sky behind her and the darkness under the hat was too much, and she couldn't make out any details, no matter how hard she squinted. "Who...?"

The witch girl seemed to look at her for a moment, and Fujiko had the distinct impression that she was confused.

"What do you...oh. Oh!" she said, then whipped off her witch hat, revealing someone rather surprising.

Fujiko stared, blinking. "No way..."

American Transfer Student, Seat Number 5, Rosemary Dean, stood across from her, smirking at her as she made a show of dusting off her witch hat. "Heh, betcha didn't expect me, didja?" she said.

Fujiko shook her head, her mind trying vainly to work out the point in time in which reality had decided to jump off a cliff while the cat girl sobbed into her shoulder.

"Ha! I _knew_ I could do it!" Rosemary said in a tone that suggested she had just won a bet. "Jackie said I couldn't even make it a month without somebody finding out I was a witch! Ha, I showed you, Jackie!" she said, fist pumping.

"Um..." Fujiko finally managed.

"Hmm?" Rosemary asked as she turned back to her classmate, eyes shining.

"Are you really..."

"A witch? Yeah. Flying broomstick and all. How do you like my outfit? I picked it out myself; my grandma nearly had a fit, but the robe she wanted me to wear was just too awkward, y'know?" Rosemary said, unusually energetic as she turned this way and that to show off her choice of witch outfit. "Is it good? I showed it to Jackie before I left, but he just said I looked like a succubus or something so I hit him. It's good, right? Isn't it?"

Fujiko nodded, unsure of how to respond. "It's good..." She had never seen this side of Rosemary before. Normally, the American girl was friendly in a perfunctory sort of way, all but refusing to get close to anyone else; she would always chat or gossip if someone tried to strike up a conversation, but she would never start up a conversation on her own or follow up an attempt at becoming friends by seeking out the other party. Yoshida had told her once about how Rosemary stood up against Taro for Rally's sake during the field trip to Kyoto, but Fujiko hadn't put much thought into it until now.

"Thanks! I thought it looked really good, but, you know, it's always good to have a second opinion," Rosemary said, smiling excitedly.

Fujiko tried to ease out of the cat girl's grip, but the cat girl only sobbed harder so she stopped and sighed and turned her gaze back on Rosemary. "So you're a witch..."

"Yep."

"A witch. A _real _witch? Like on TV?"

Rosemary nodded, her smile widening.

"You're...you're not...evil, are you?" Fujiko finished up, her mind taking in this new aspect of reality quite well, even if she said so herself. "You won't curse me, right?"

Rosemary looked taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter so hard she dropped her hat. "No way! Ha ha! There are evil ones out there, but I'm not one of 'em! I saved you and the cat girl, right? Good thing I'm good with a slingshot too," she said, producing said object from inside her hat. Fujiko recalled the small stones that had struck the two scary looking men who had been menacing the cat girl, and it was as if a light bulb had come on in her head; then her gaze strayed to the broomstick.

"So...were we flying? Really flying?" Fujiko asked, looking at the broomstick Rosemary had left lying on the rooftop to cool down. "Did you use wires or something...?" She still recalled how disappointed she had been when she learned that when it looked like people were flying in the Rider shows she loved so much, they were really being held up by wires.

Rosemary shook her head, clearly amused. "Nope. All magic, no wires."

"Magic," Fujiko stated.

"Magic," Rosemary replied, nodding.

"What, like 'Abracadabra, Open Sesame'?" Fujiko asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Rosemary shook her head, looking amused. "Nope. More like potions and cauldrons and calling on spirits and doing spells," she said. "I use a lot of air and shadow-based magic, and I'm pretty good at illusions; enough to fool a normal person, anyway." She leaned close and whispered in a conspiratorial manner. "I've been to class wearing my jeans and sneakers before, heh."

Fujiko blinked at her. Jeans and sneakers? That was against the dress code...! She couldn't quite recall ever having seen Rosemary wearing such a thing in class, but now that she thought about it, she could recall several times where she had somehow felt Rosemary's uniform was just _wrong_ somehow...

"So who's the cat girl?" Rosemary finally asked.

Fujiko looked down at the cat girl, whose sobs were finally winding down, and shrugged, understandably distracted by the massive revelations her mind had just been assaulted with. "I dunno."

* * *

><p>Misa stood high a rooftop nearby, carefully observing the situation. The two fox youkai had escaped, though she had gotten a good description out to the office. She was pretty sure she knew who the cat girl was as well, though she couldn't be sure until the girl got her face out of Fujiko's shirt. But this thing with Fujiko and Rosemary could be trouble...<p>

"So you're telling me you knew Rosemary was a witch?" she asked.

'_Well...yes. She really made it quite obvious with the way she constantly used illusion magic to hide when she didn't want to work, not to mention all those times she decided to cheat the dress code,' _Negi replied via Nodoka's mental network.

"And I suppose you didn't say anything because you didn't want anyone else finding out," she replied.

'_Yes_.'

Misa sighed. "Any word on those two fox youkai?"

_'Yes. Nodoka-san says they signed in several days ago; they came to Mahora as bounty hunters, trying to capture two fugitives. They stated their intentions plainly, and it appears that their papers are in order.'_

"So they're legal," Misa said, frowning. How annoying. She didn't like guys that picked on little girls, even youkai girls, but if they were legal, there wasn't really much she could legally do to stop them...

'_Yes,_' Negi replied.

"So what about these three?" Misa asked. "If it was just Rosemary and Fujiko I'd just leave it at that, but with that cat girl with them..." she said, trailing off as she watched the three of them talking on the rooftop below. Those two fox youkai might go after the cat girl again; if they did that, Misa couldn't legally intervene, unless one of the human girls was in danger...what a pain.

'_Please keep watching them, okay?_'

Misa frowned, annoyed. No matter what it was, she just couldn't refuse a request from Negi. Dammit. "Okay."

'_Let me know if anything happens,'_ Negi replied.

Misa sighed. "Okay. Any sign of Possum yet?"

There was a pause before he replied. '_We found where she has been staying, but she wasn't there. She is still in the city, so we have security teams stationed all over...please lend a hand if something goes wrong.'_

"Yeah yeah, you can count on me," Misa said absently as she watched the three girls on the rooftop below move to the fire escape and start to climb down.

* * *

><p>"Hmm..." Nodoka said, frowning a little as she sat in her chair with her eyes shut. Yue looked up from the desk she sat at, curious. Running a mental network was a lot of work, but Yue had a feeling something else had drawn that confused sound out of her best friend.<p>

"Is something wrong?"

Nodoka bunched her eyebrows in worry and confusion. "I...can't find Ako."

Yue blinked. "...is that even possible?" Nodoka's mental network, once she got it set up, could find just about _anyone_, if she knew them; an old friend should have been even easier.

"If she has moved out of range..." Nodoka replied absently, frowning slightly as she concentrated. She reached out as far as she could and tried to open Ako's book again, but...nothing. "They're supposed to play some songs today... I'm worried..."

"Keep searching, I'll call Misa; she should know where she is," Yue said, pulling out her cell phone.

* * *

><p>The news that Ako was missing spread like wildfire among Negi's old students. None of her bandmates could recall having seen her since the day before, but due to the way the four of them lived, spread between Misa's apartment and Madoka's house at random and with Misa and Sakurako often out at parties, none of them had realized anything was wrong. Yuuna hadn't seen her, nor had Akira or Makie or Jennifer or anyone else. Ayaka quickly set up a system of volunteers to search for anyone who might have seen the missing woman.<p>

* * *

><p>A tired form stumbled down an alleyway, pausing now and then to all but collapse against a wall before continuing on another twenty or thirty feet.<p>

"Come on...gotta get to the end of the alley..." the shape said aloud, its voice exhausted, hoarse, nearly unrecognizable.

It made its way along, clutching its stomach, followed by several curious stray cats.

"Gotta...keep going..."

* * *

><p>"Mail call~" the dorm mother called out as she took up the mail bag and started down the hall, dropping everyone's mail into the slots in their doors. A few of the students opened their doors to receive their mail, but for the most part, everyone was already out at the festival. Ayumi, however, had yet to crawl out from under her blanket, even though it was approaching lunch time. She waited, holding her breath, while the dorm mother paused in front of her door, knocked, and then slid an envelope into the mail slot and moved on. She waited until she could no longer hear the woman and then slipped out from under the blanket and crept over to the door. She picked up the single envelope and nervously flipped it over to look at the address. It was hers, all right...and it was from her stepmother.<p>

Ayumi swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and scrambled back to her bed, her agonized thoughts about Misa-sama possibly hating her temporarily forgotten as she contemplated what new horrors her stepmother might be planning to unleash upon her. Once again safely under the blanket, she opened the envelope and gingerly pulled out the sheet of paper, flipped open her cell phone for light, wrinkled her nose at the coffee stain on the edge of the paper, and started reading.

It was short, but it was most definitely _not_ sweet.

_Ayumi,_

_We got your money last time, but it's not enough. We've paid for you to go to that boarding school all this time, and you haven't done a thing to make it worthwhile, just played around with that band of yours while your grades go down. Grow up. My husband and I have had enough. This semester will be the last we pay for your school. Either grow up and get a job and start paying us back, or we're disowning you._

"...no way..." Ayumi mumbled. "No way..." She lay there under the safety of her blanket for a long time, too stunned to even think properly. She was...she was going to be forced to go back...back _there_? What about what her uncle had said...? Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what leaving Mahora would mean. Not only would she be leaving a place where she actually found school to be _fun_, but she would be torn away from all these people she had come to know, Kara and Kai and Miyako, she would never again be able to speak to Misa-sama, her band would be dissolved...

She scrambled off of her bed, ripping the blanket off as rage washed over her. 'How dare she...!' Ayumi thought viciously. 'How _dare_ she!' she wadded the letter up in a ball and threw it with all her might against the wall; it bounced off harmlessly and went behind the big mirror attached to the dresser. She snatched up her discarded blanket, wadded it up as well, and heaved it against the door, then snatched her pillow off the bed and threw it as well. It bounced off the dresser mirror and knocked over her makeup basket, sending little bottles rolling off the edge of the dresser to land on the floor. Ayumi glared at her reflection in the mirror from across the room, then turned around and pounded her fist against the hard wood that made up the frame of the bunk bed until her hand started to hurt, then, in a fit of pique, kicked it. She bit off a harsh cry as she fell to the floor, cradling her foot, and realized she was crying. Her temporary fit of rage burned out, reality began to set in again as her mind began repeating the contents of the letter from her stepmother, and before she could stop herself she started to sob. She grabbed her pillow, lying nearby after it had fallen off the dresser, and clung to it with all she had as she lay curled up on her side on the floor, sobbing into the carpet.

* * *

><p>Taro walked along, thinking about the unusual experiences of that morning and the night before. She hadn't ever really had any friends other than her distant cousins Kanako-nee and Keitarou-nii, and then later, Possum. She felt that she could honestly add Kagami and Sachiko to that list now, and the thought made her feel a little giddy inside. She had never been good at making friends; she was too hotheaded and she knew it. And, while Kagami was a little strange with all the hugging and laying on people, it wasn't as if it made Taro particularly uncomfortable. Kanako-nee had been clingy too; even Keitarou-nii had been at times...both of them had constantly hugged her around the neck when she was younger and rubbed their cheek on her face while saying something like "Kawaiiiii~!" or "So moeeee~!" whenever she practiced her martial arts. That had been years ago, though...she blushed slightly. She didn't mind the hugging...Kagami was soft and warm and surprisingly huggable for a girl, and Sachiko was so thin and frail-seeming it made Taro want to protect her.<p>

She felt a quick burst of guilt, wishing Possum could have been there, and glanced over into an alley as she walked past. She froze, mid step, eyes wide as she gaped.

A dirty, tired, disheveled girl seated between a trashcan and a wooden crate, watched by half a dozen cats, looked up at her, exhausted, with those same yellow eyes that Taro knew so well.

"...Possum...?" The girl's name barely made it past her lips. "Possum, is that you?" The girl in the alley wiped her eyes and Taro could see she was starting to cry. "P...Possum...!" she said, moving toward her.

"S-stop...!" Possum said, holding up her hand, her breath ragged.

Taro stopped walking and stood there, watching her long-missing friend with wide eyes. "Possum, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Possum let out a hoarse laugh and started sobbing, burying her face in her hands as she brought her knees up to her chest.

"Possum..." Taro trailed off, not knowing where to begin. Was Possum a vampire now? Would she die if she stepped out into the sunlight? It was too horrible to think about... "Possum, are you okay? Did you turn into..."

Possum's sobs had died down by this point and she sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I-I don't know. Sometimes it's really bad, and sometimes it's not," she said miserably. Taro took a step toward her and she held up her hand, covering her face with her other one. "Don't! I don't know what I'll do...I won't, I won't, I won't..."

Taro frowned in worry for her best friend as she trailed off, repeating 'I won't' as if it was some sort of mantra. Whatever had happened to her, one thing was clear: Possum needed help, and she needed it _now_. Taro stood up straighter. "Possum, I'm going to get Negi-sensei. He'll know what to do! Just wait here, okay? I'll be right back, I think I even know where he is! Hang on, Possum!" she said, already running.

"Yeah..." Possum managed, wiping her eyes.

* * *

><p>Seat number 25, Mori Kumiko, looked down over the edge of the roof at the girl seated in the alley below. She seemed to be sobbing more openly, now that Taro had run off. Mori sighed as a frown crept over her face. Poor girl...she was fighting the change so hard, but...such a thing was impossible; four thousand years of secret history said so, after all. Kumiko climbed over the edge of the roof until she was hanging on by her fingertips, then let go and dropped down and grabbed onto the window ledge below her. She pushed off and turned to hang onto another ledge eight feet down on the building opposite, and repeated the maneuver several times until she was finally back at ground level...this was no time to be taking the stairs. The other girl took no notice of her as she approached, instead leaning her forehead on her crossed arms, which were propped up on her knees.<p>

Kumiko drew a long knife inscribed with a runelike script. "Unholy creature, your time has come. In the name of the Burial Agency—"

"I'm not unholy," Possum said, not looking up, her voice firm in spite of her exhaustion.

Kumiko stumbled over her words. "U-unholy creature—"

"I said I'm not unholy...!" Possum said again, staggering to her feet. She leaned heavily on the wall, the alleycats that had been watching her backing up as she fixed Kumiko with an angry stare. "I am still _me_! I _will not turn into one of THEM_...!"

Kumiko felt her stomach churning. Was this what it meant to be a member of the Burial Agency? Destroying 'Evil' and fighting for 'Good', that was what she had been taught, but this...what would Ciel-sempai do...?

Possum irritably swiped her hair out of her face, and Kumiko got a good look at her. Sunken eyes, dog-tired from well over a week of fighting against the inevitable with all her strength; tear tracks crisscrossing the dirt and dust on her cheeks, from all the times hope must have died... Possum staggered and fell to the pavement and Mori almost moved to help her back up, but forced herself to stop. This...this _thing_ wasn't her classmate Possum anymore. It was an unholy abomination now, and...and...it was crying.

Possum leaned back against the wall as her tears came again, unbidden. She wiped them away as well as she could, but they just kept coming. "Damn it..." she muttered in English. "I won't be one, I _won't_!" She dug something out of her pocket, and Kumiko was disturbed to see it was a cross necklace, caked with dirt and mud. "I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't...!" Possum repeated, clutching the cross with both hands, ignoring Kumiko.

'That's impossible,' Kumiko thought. A vampire carrying a holy symbol? It went against everything she knew about vampires... Sure, the more powerful ones could withstand holy symbols and in some circles it was considered a mark of great power to be able to pick one up, but for a brand new one to carry a cross in her pocket and be able to take it out at will...it went against everything she had been taught.

Possum seemed to settle down, then turned her attention back on Kumiko again. "You have to help me," she said suddenly.

"What?" Kumiko said, startled into speech.

"Y-you're not a normal person, right? You can help me, you have to know somebody that can...I mean..."

"I-I-I-I don't know, I'm just a trainee, I don't know about anything like this, I didn't even know something like this could happen!" Kumiko said, all but babbling as she hovered around the other girl. Seriously; the girl should have fully vampirized within hours, maybe a few days at the most. To see the other girl still fighting it off so successfully over a week later was shocking to say the least.

Possum suddenly wrapped her arms around her stomach and moaned, falling over on her side and curling into a fetal position.

Kumiko picked up the cross necklace the girl had dropped. "Possum-san...?" she said tentatively as she leaned closer, trying to get a good look at the other girl's face. "Possum-san?" It looked like her eyes were starting to turn a reddish color...the girl jerked and clapped her hands over her face, cutting off Kumiko's view.

"I won't, I won't, I won't I won't _I won't I won't I won't I WON'T I WILL __**NOT**_!" Possum roared, ending in a scream that drew some startled comments from people walking by out in the street.

Kumiko quickly drew back, holding her long knife up in order to defend herself if Possum should attack. Possum shook her head and sat up, leaning back against the wall, and Kumiko was startled to see the red color in the other girl's eyes was gone; they were, again, that odd yellowish shade that had drawn Kumiko's attention on the first day of school. "How did you do that?" she asked.

Possum shook her head tiredly. "I haven't killed anything in four days," she said quietly. She shuddered. "The last one was a cat. I...I really like cats, I didn't want to..."

Kumiko watched as Possum started crying again. "Possum-san..."

"Hey you, Burial Agency zealot, get away from her." The voice was on its surface almost childlike, but there was nothing playful about the killing intent that came with it. Kumiko looked up, eyes wide, and saw Taro-san, Negi-sensei, and Evangeline at the end of the alley.

"...What?" Kumiko asked as she tried to process what was going on.

"I said get away from her," Eva ordered, taking a few menacing steps toward her.

Kumiko backed up, wide eyed. She knew all about Eva; everyone related to the Burial Agency did. It was at that moment that she glanced at Possum, then realized what the scene must have looked like. There was Possum, seated with her back against the wall, crying, while she hovered above her, cross necklace dangling from her left hand and long knife in her right.

"I'm warning you Mori, if you don't get away from her..." Taro said, using the single most terrifying glare Kumiko had ever seen from the girl. It was almost on par with the one Eva was giving her.

"It's not like that!" Kumiko said frantically, raising her hands. She realized late that she was still holding the blade, and quickly returned it to its hidden sheath up the back of her shirt. "Really!"

"Mori-san," Negi said seriously. "Please put down your weapons and step away from Possum-san. I know about the Burial Agency, but Possum-san is your classmate. You mustn't do things like this," he said as he approached, their gazes locked.

Kumiko felt tears starting to well up. "It's not like that...!" she wailed.

Possum straightened up again, surprising everyone present. "Give me the cross," she demanded tiredly but firmly. Kumiko held it out to her, and Possum took it and wrapped the chain around her hand, placing the cross in the palm of her hand against the skin and held it there by squeezing her hand into a fist while Negi and Eva watched in surprise. Negi gave Eva a searching look, but she was just as confused as he was.

"Help me up," Possum said, reaching out for Kumiko; she rushed to take Possum's hand and helped pull her to her feet, where she swayed and started to fall. Taro hurried forward and threw Possum's right arm around around her shoulder to support her, and Kumiko did the same with her left.

Taro shot a warning look at Kumiko. "If you do anything..." she said, her voice a low growl.

Kumiko shook her head frantically. "I'm telling you, it's not like that...!"

"Come this way, please," Negi said firmly. "We need to get her under observation..."

* * *

><p>Ayumi wasn't sure how long she laid on the floor, clinging to the pillow, before her cell phone rang. She absently reached out to where it was lying on the floor where it had fallen when she ripped the blanket off of her bed, and pulled it closer to see who was calling. She looked at the small screen on the outside of the phone.<p>

Her eyes widened and she shot up to a seated position. Misa-sama was finally calling...! After waiting for so long, Misa-sama was finally calling to congratulate her for winning those awards on the first day...! She fumbled with the phone for a moment before she managed to get it open and press the button to receive the call.

"H-hello?"

'_Oh, heya Ayumi! I just called to ask, have you seen Ako anywhere?'_

Ayumi's joy faltered. Surely this was a joke, right? "N-no, I haven't seen—"

'_Ah, damn. Oh well, I thought it was worth asking. So, on to what I really wanted!'_ Misa said happily. Ayumi felt her heart leap into her throat.

"Y...Yes?"

'_What's your bassist's phone number? What's her name...Kara, right? Yeah, I think I need her to take Ako's place in the band today; we have to be up on stage in a few hours, and we can't play without a bassist...Ayumi-chan? You still there?'_

"Yes..." Ayumi said, her voice faltering. Misa-sama wanted...Kara's number? Kara would get a chance to play with Misa-sama up on stage...?

'_Ayumi? Are you alright?'_

"Yes," Ayumi said, a bit more forcefully than she had intended. She felt dried up, dead inside. She gave Kara's cell phone number to Misa, listened absently as Misa thanked her and said bye, and waited for a moment after the musician, her hero, the only one she had ever really looked up to, had hung up.

She threw her cell phone with all the force she could muster against the door, and it shattered into shards of plastic and metal. Ayumi slammed her fist into the side of the dresser and clenched her teeth, trying not to break down into sobs as she fell over onto her side, curled up tightly in the fetal position, as tears came pouring out.

* * *

><p>Misa hung up her cell phone and dropped it into her pocket, smiling. "Okay, got Kara-chan's number; think she'll do it?" she asked. She was just happy she had gotten out of babysitting duty for Fujiko and Rosemary; it was a wonder what a good excuse could do.<p>

Sakurako shrugged. "Dunno; probably. Oh yeah, did you ever congratulate Ayumi-chan on the awards she won the other day?"

Misa blinked at her. "I told Miyako to tell her congratulations..."

Sakurako gave her a nearly blank, almost disappointed look. "...seriously?"

Misa grinned awkwardly. "Eh heh...I guess I should call her back...?"

Sakurako nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Come on Misa, I thought you knew better than that," she said, grinning to take the sting from her words.

"Yeah yeah, you're right. It'll probably mean a lot to her," Misa said, fishing out her cell phone. She flipped it open and scanned through her contact list. "There," she said, pressing the button. She listened for a moment, frowned, and looked at her cell phone, confused. "Huh...it says her phone's not available right now...weird; I was just talking to her and everything. Oh well, I'll try again later~" Misa said as she put away her cell phone and sat down to her early lunch with Sakurako.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Ooh, poor Ayumi...that's gotta suck, and she doesn't even realize it. Anyway, don't remember Ryoko? Try 'Chapter 1: Death' of Still Waters 3 Book 2, or the Kyoto arc of Still Waters 3 Book 1. Onyx and Morrison? Try 'Chapter 3: Festival Preparations 1' of Still Waters 3 Book 2._


	16. Ch 13 Festival Third Day pt 2 The Date

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 13: The Date**

* * *

><p><em>Sunday, June 28th, 2009, Morning<em>

* * *

><p>A tired, roadworn woman in a ragged robe with a hood staggered along the road. She looked at the road signs as she passed them, wondering what the intricate little symbols meant, but it was only a minor distraction, something to take her mind off of the sheer exhaustion she felt after so long on the road in a world she didn't even understand. That, and the inexplicable need to go <em>there<em>, wherever 'there' was, that had driven her back to the old world for the first time since the death of her parents in her infancy had taken her from it; it had taken time, but she had ultimately admitted to herself that this need to go 'there' was what had driven her from her home in Mundus Magicus and the life of a member of a fallen royal family. It had led her to a life of wandering, never feeling content, always moving on...and then she had met the man who introduced her to Misora, and she had met Ruden, and, for a time, she had forgotten. She had been content, she had allowed herself to think perhaps she had finally found what she had been looking for...and then _she_ had appeared: Dani Ellesane, half-breed cat girl from Zephyria. Or Hasegawa Chisame, as she had later learned was the girl's true name. Chisame had come into her life and ripped everything apart, destroyed the connections between the members of the group, forced them all to separate and go their own way. Ava had been lost without Ruden, but with the splintering of the group the need to _go_ had come back to her with a vengeance; she had had no choice, and Chisame had provided her with a direction: Mundus Vetus, the old world, Earth. A certain country, a certain city, a certain person. And so she had returned to the world of her birth an outlaw, with no friends, no home, not a dime in her pocket, just an irresistible need to _go _and a feeling in her head that told her direction. She had come to Mundus Vetus by a portal in a small island nation; she had crossed sea and forest, mountains and deserts, battlefields and desolate wastes, and finally arrived here, on this _other_ small island nation almost on the other side of the world; she had come to this city, and the sensation that she was _almost there_ was overwhelming. She was almost there; her long, long journey was coming to an end.

'Almost there,' she thought as she paused beside the road to rest for a moment, ignoring the other people and the cars driving by as she looked at the top of an enormous tree just visible in the distance over the next hill. She limped along, tired, exhausted, and yet driven on by the sense that wherever 'there' was, it was _close_.

It wouldn't be long now.

* * *

><p>Negi surreptitiously wiped the sweat from his forehead with his handkerchief and took a series of deep breaths in a useless attempt to calm himself. Thus far, the third day of the festival had been full of action; from a young gang of youkai making trouble everywhere they went in the morning to finally recovering his long-missing student Possum Cade barely half an hour ago, it seemed he had been running to take care of one situation or another since he had climbed out of his bed...but all of that was now in the past, and he had something <em>much<em> bigger to worry about now.

Negi was about to go on his first real date.

He walked up to the designated meeting place, a certain bench in front of a small cafe, and checked his watch. Satisfied that he was properly early, he smiled to himself and settled in for a long wait. He held out for as long as he could, but three minutes later he had already begun to fidget. Perhaps forty five minutes had been too early...? He checked his watch again.

* * *

><p>"Um, I think this is fine..." Nodoka said, but Yue was having none of it.<p>

"No, this would be better," Yue said as she pulled a frilly top from Nodoka's closet and held it up to Nodoka's chest to get an idea of what it would look like.

Nodoka smiled helplessly. Personally, she preferred the one she had chosen earlier; it was simple, comfortable in this hot weather, and quite pretty, in her opinion. But then Yue had shown up to, as the shorter woman had put it, 'Help you make a good impression on your date'. Nodoka had thought she was ready to go, but Yue had quickly pointed out various flaws in her clothing choices, and, perhaps foolishly, Nodoka now realized, she had asked Yue for help, having forgotten that Yue's tastes tended toward men's clothing on one hand and excessively frilly girls' clothing on the other; Nodoka herself preferred clothing that was simple, pretty, and comfortable: simple print shirts or solid color tops, pants or skirts that went to the knee, the occasional pretty sundress or shorter skirt when she knew she was going to be around Negi-kun...

Nodoka checked the time on her cell phone and turned back to Yue. "I think this is fine," she said hopefully as she picked up a skirt and blouse Yue had discarded half an hour before.

"That one's not _nearly _cute enough," Yue said, trying to pull the blouse from Nodoka's hands while reaching for the frilliest top in Nodoka's closet, a lace covered thing that had been hanging there unmolested since Nodoka moved into her apartment. Nodoka, seeing her chance to make a break for it, abruptly released the blouse and shut the closet door behind Yue, trapping her inside. She grabbed a nearby chair and propped it up under the doorknob, effectively locking Yue in.

"Hey! Nodoka, let me out...!" Yue called out as she pounded on the door. "Nodoka! _Nodoka!_"

"I'm sorry Yue! I'll call Paru to let you out later!" she called out as she snatched up her purse on the way to the door. She paused in the entryway to check her reflection in the mirror, and slipped on a pair of shoes that would be comfortable enough to walk around all day in, and looked back one last time at the closet door, sending a silent apology to Yue, and left her apartment, pulling the door shut behind her. 'I'm going to be late...!'

"Let me out! Nodoka! Nodoka? ...are you there?" Yue asked to the now empty room.

"...Nodoka?"

* * *

><p>'Is my tie straight? The collar of my shirt? I <em>knew <em>I should have worn something more casual...! My hair isn't sticking up in the back again, is it? Oh God it is...! Oh no now it's even _worse_...!' Negi had spent a lot of time alone with Nodoka over the years, especially this past year at the dig site in Tibet, but that was different...! That was just two friends working together; this was a date, an actual _date_...! 'Come on, Negi, you have to calm down! You are a Springfield! You mustn't play the fool!'

He shut his eyes and tried to ignore the ridiculousness of what he had just thought as he took a deep breath, held it, let it out slowly. 'That's better, isn't it? Yes, of course. I must remain calm; I must be a proper gentleman. I must-' He opened his eyes mid-thought and saw her standing there a short distance away, looking around worriedly until she happened to look in his direction and smiled brilliantly, waving. He blinked once, twice, realized his mouth was hanging open, and promptly shut it and stood up a little straighter as he waved back at her. "Nodoka-san...!"

Nodoka trotted up, smiling prettily at him in a way that drove everything else out of his mind, and he couldn't help but smile back, his earlier worries temporarily forgotten.

"Ah, I'm sorry I'm a little late," Nodoka said.

"Ah, no, you're right on time," Negi said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "You... you look really nice," he said, unable to think of anything more fitting. It was true, too: she really _did _look nice. He must have seen her in that same shirt and skirt a hundred times, but today...today they were on a _date_, and that added a mysterious 'something' to the situation that, as he was most uncomfortably discovering, made him _aware_ of her far more strongly than he had any other time they were alone. He realized she was talking, a light blush on her cheeks, and mentally berated himself for letting his mind wander as he tried to follow her response.

Their feeble attempts at small talk quickly dwindled down to nothing, and Negi found himself at a loss as to what to do next. Nodoka was smiling at him expectantly, and that, combined with the fact that he and Nodoka were on a date—a _date_...!—pushed aside any other thought.

* * *

><p>Nodoka was giddy with excitement—'He likes my outfit, he likes it!'—and more nervous than she had been around him in years, maybe even since she had first realized her interest in him. She realized she was grinning nervously and tried to tear her gaze away, but he was just so <em>pretty<em> when he was smiling at her that way...

She knew they must look like a couple of weirdos, standing here in front of a cafe and smiling at each other, but all of the carefully planned comments and conversation starters she had agonized over for days had fled and all she could think about was his face, his smile, and he was _right there_, and they were on a _date_...!

* * *

><p>Negi smiled. He smiled until his face started to hurt; he couldn't help it. The hard work and research he had done in the process of planning out his date with Nodoka was all for naught; his mind had gone blank when she started smiling at him.<p>

They smiled blankly at each other until Negi's cell phone began to ring.

"Ah!" Negi said, startled. "Oh, I'm sorry Nodoka-san, I'll just-" he said, fumbling with his cell phone.

"Oh, don't worry about me! It's okay..." Nodoka said shyly, finally averting her gaze.

Negi, somewhat relieved that something had happened to snap the both of them out of it and yet somehow feeling quite disappointed, turned away from his date and answered his phone. "Yes?"

'_Come on aniki, you've gotta do better than that!'_ a familiar voice said._ 'What happened to all your planning?'_

"Kamo-kun? Is that you?" Negi whispered into the phone.

'_Who else would it be, Chachazero? Oh, she's over here too, by the way; she says "Take her down now while her back is turned!",'_ Kamo said in a fairly credible imitation of Chachazero's voice, snorting laughter.

Negi quickly scanned his surroundings, blushing furiously at Chachazero's order, but couldn't see the two interlopers anywhere. Damn.

'_Of course I told her you've gotta wait for that till the end. Hey, tell me aniki, are you bringing her to your place, or are you going to hers? Should I find somewhere else to stay tonight?'_ Kamo asked, his voice more full of sheer lechery than Negi had ever heard it. Knowing that it was _Kamo-kun_ he was talking to, that was really saying a lot.

Luckily, it got his mind working again.

"I'm hanging up now, Kamo-kun," Negi said firmly, then ended the call and turned back to Nodoka, who was smiling more normally now, and laughed nervously. "Ah, that was just Kamo-kun..." he said, trailing off with a sigh.

A look of understanding flashed across Nodoka's face, and she nodded. "So what should we do now?"

Negi made a confident smile. "Let's have some lunch, shall we? I know the perfect place."

* * *

><p>Natsumi's cafe, while in a somewhat out of the way location, nevertheless was rarely empty; this was due to a combination of good food—though not nearly as good as 'Satsuki's', a restaurant with three locations in Mahora—a friendly atmosphere, and the presence of the manager, a friendly young woman who, when she was on the clock, seemed to brighten up the whole place and turned a run-of-the-mill diner into a nice place to eat.<p>

Negi pushed open the door and held it for Nodoka, then entered the diner.

"Welcome to Natsumi's Diner! How can we help...you...?"

Negi found himself staring. He couldn't help it.

Kotarou, having botched his welcome, sent his best death glare at Negi, though it was weakened somewhat by the heavy blush of embarrassment on his cheeks, the goofy paper hat perched on his head, the long apron, and the white shirt and bow tie that completed the ensemble.

"If you say a word, I will kill you," Kotarou growled.

Negi quickly averted his gaze, trying his best not to make a comment, but his eyes landed on Nodoka's face, and her eyes were shining as she struggled to hold back a fit of giggles.

He turned back to Kotarou, struggling to contain the laughter that was just aching to get out, and spoke in a somewhat credible 1920s American accent.

"Hey, soda jerk! Egg cream for me and the miss, and get a wiggle on! What're you looking at? You're giving me the heebie-jeebies! Say, you're not on the lam, are you? I hear this place is the bee's knees, the cat's pajamas, the-"

"You do know I'm gonna kill ya, right?" Kotarou said.

"Kotarou-kun, you know better than to behave like that! Show them to a nice table!" Natsumi scolded from behind the counter. "I'll be right with you!"

Kotarou deflated, sent one last baleful glare at Negi, just _daring_ him to speak up about Natsumi ordering him around, and led them to a table.

When Kotarou had left with their orders, Nodoka fiddled with her purse for a moment to give her hands something to do.

"When I first met him, I never thought he'd ever be able to do anything like _this_," Negi said, watching Kotarou get yelled at by Natsumi. Kotarou was a good six feet tall at this point, fairly thin though wide shouldered, and to watch him berated by Natsumi, 5'1" and less than a hundred pounds was, to put it honestly, bloody freakin' _hilarious_, especially with the way he shyly rubbed the back of his head now and then throughout the scolding.

Nodoka smiled. "Yes. Paru was talking about them a week ago; she said...well..."

"As if she has a leash on him?" Negi suggested. Nodoka quickly looked away, stifling a giggle, but nodded.

Kotarou returned a moment later with their food, which they ate in a companionable silence, with occasional pauses to comment on the cheery atmosphere of the place and what looked suspiciously like bullet holes in one of the windows.

"So, are they...together?" Negi asked awkwardly. Nodoka gave him such a shocked look that he started babbling, his first instinct when a girl looked at him in such a way being to apologize.

It took a moment, but Nodoka managed to calm him down enough to answer his question. "I thought everyone knew; they're madly in love," she said, blushing, her eyes shining as she looked at Kotarou and Natsumi as they worked together behind the counter. Even though Kotarou was clearly an amateur at the sort of work he was doing, he never got in Natsumi's way, and Natsumi helped him out almost constantly without even appearing to notice. The two of them worked so well together that she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She and Negi had never managed that sort of unconscious cooperation; there had been times when they came close, such as the many times someone decided to attack Mahora and even a few times on the dig site in Tibet, but it was nowhere near the level of the two currently working behind the counter.

Nowhere near the level of of Negi and Asuna.

Nodoka took a deep breath to clear her head of the sudden sharp jealousy she felt at that thought and took another sip of her drink.

"Is something wrong?" Negi asked gently, as if afraid she would break if he spoke too loudly.

Nodoka shook her head, trying to get rid of the unwarranted spike of spite she suddenly felt for the red head who shared Negi's apartment. It wasn't right of her to be angry at Asuna like this; it wasn't fair to her. They were old friends; they had fought alongside each other a hundred times, and she should be ashamed to be thinking in such a way about Asuna...! "I'm fine," Nodoka said absently. "This is really quite good," she said, finishing up the last of her order.

"Yes, it _is_ quite good," Negi said as he pushed his empty plate back from the edge of the table. They fell into an awkward silence.

* * *

><p>Asuna walked along on her patrol, her mind a million miles away.<p>

'I wonder what they're doing now...?'

While she had supported Negi and Nodoka's date one hundred percent, right from the beginning, she couldn't help but be curious. What was Negi's idea of a date? Would he take her to a museum, or would he go along with what the dating-advice books said and take her to dinner and a movie? Or...and she shivered at the thought...would Negi follow Eva's advice and skip all the preamble to take her straight to a love hotel?

She shook her head to clear it. 'Come on Asuna, don't be thinking about things like that! No matter how interesting of a thought it is, it's...pretty interesting actually...um, where was I...?' She paused in her walk and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself enough to slow her heart rate a little. 'Why am I so nervous? It's not like _I'm_ the one on a date with him...!' she thought. Her traitorous mind brought up the idea of a love hotel again, only with _her_ in place of Nodoka.

"No. Stop," she said aloud, coming to a complete stop. "Bad thoughts; don't do that."

Negi wouldn't take her to a love hotel on their first date. Perhaps more to the point, it wasn't _her _on a date with Negi, it was Honya. "Honya deserves this; she's loved him pretty much forever," Asuna said aloud, unaware of the curious looks she was receiving from passersby. "I probably just ate something weird this morning, that's why I'm thinking weird things like this."

'Come on Asuna, snap out of it! You're on patrol!' she told herself.

"Thief! Hey, that guy stole my wallet!" someone yelled, pointing at a suspicious man running from the scene.

Asuna grinned. 'Just what I needed!' "I'll get him!" she called out as she took off after the wallet thief.

* * *

><p>"Oh, isn't that cute?" Nodoka said absently, looking at a giant stuffed leek hanging on the wall in a carnival booth as the two of them walked by.<p>

"...really?" Negi asked as he paused to look at it, cocking his head to the side. 'A giant leek? ...why would she think something like that was cute? Wait, she thinks it's cute, according to the "Hey, Get A Grip!: Complete Loser's Guide to Dating", that means I should show my mastery of this carnival game to win it for her...!' he thought; he promptly turned to Nodoka, pasting on a confident smirk as he looked at her, just like the example presented in the book. "Don't worry, I'll win it for you," he said, then slapped down a hundred-yen coin on the counter. "Three shots, mister!"

Nodoka cocked her head to the side. '...huh?'

* * *

><p>"Three more shots!"<p>

* * *

><p>"Three more!"<p>

* * *

><p>"Three!"<p>

* * *

><p>"...three more!"<p>

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, Negi lay collapsed against the counter, keenly feeling his failure. 'It's...it's impossible...! The ping pong balls just keep bouncing out of the bowls! Why? <em>Why...?' <em> He peered closely at the shallow bowls he was supposed to get the ping pong balls into. 'Wait, if I use a minor wind spell to adjust the trajectory _just right_ while giving the ball just the slightest counterspin to correct for the shape of the inside of the bowl while throwing it in such a manner that the angle and force of impact is reduced enough to induce a roll rather than a bounce—'

"I...it's okay, Negi-kun, I didn't really..." Nodoka said; she was well aware of how he was feeling at the moment, but she had no idea of what she could do to snap him out of it.

Negi heaved a sigh and dragged himself back upright, vastly aware of the lightness of his wallet. 'There goes that new movie I overheard her mentioning casually to Yue three days ago...' he thought as he tried patting down his pockets. 'I can't believe I spent almost twenty thousand yen trying to win a _giant stuffed leek_,' he thought, recoiling in horror as he realized the full extent of his folly. 'And I stalled our date, too! I am a horrible failure...I'll apologize to Nodoka-san and take her back home. Perhaps I will be able to make up for it some day...' He felt a sudden coolness on his hand and looked down to see Nodoka had taken his hand in hers. He looked up at her face and was struck by her smile.

"How about you show me your class's project for the festival?" Nodoka suggested helpfully.

"Yes; you are right as always, Nodoka-san," Negi said, nodding to himself as he stepped back from the counter and squeezed her hand gently before letting go. 'It appears I have underestimated her yet again,' he thought, unable to hide the smile growing on his face as he looked at her. Their eyes met and he quickly looked away before he could fall into the same trap again. "Let's go."

"Thanks again, young man! Come back anytime!" the guy running the stand said, a huge smile on his face for some reason Negi didn't care to think about as he dropped the last of Negi's money into the cash box.

* * *

><p>The visit to Negi's classroom-turned-art-gallery went smoothly, as expected, but due to the small size of the art display, they were soon at a loss again and, after wandering through a few more classrooms equipped with the usual haunted houses and terrible student films, the two of them found themselves back outside.<p>

As they paused in the shade of a tree, Nodoka happened to glance over at Negi just in time to catch him checking his watch. She stiffened a little. 'Am I...really that boring?' was the first thought that went through her head, but she quickly shook it off. 'Come on, Nodoka! It's probably a misunderstanding! Like that time with Chizuru or that other time with Misora. Or all those times with Misa. And that time with Asuna's underwear. And that time with-wait, no! Stop thinking like that Nodoka! Focus!' She turned to him, smiling sweetly. "Am I really that boring?" she asked.

'Why did I say that? _Why_?' she mentally berated herself, carefully maintaining her sweet smile. 'I didn't mean to say that! I wanted to ask if he had to be somewhere...! Why am I making so many mistakes today? I haven't been like this since...since...' She realized Negi was looking at her, wide eyed and panicking, and felt like screaming in frustration. '_WHY_?'

* * *

><p>Negi's mind went into overdrive. 'Oh my God I've insulted her! What should I do? What <em>can <em>I do? Oh why can't I remember any advice from that dating book I found in the bargain bin at the station?' He started trying to apologize, but with the way his mind was racing and the fact that he was starting to panic, it started out as something akin to babbling and only went downhill from there, a tragic downward spiral that only ended when his cell phone again rang. Negi pulled it out and whipped around to face the opposite direction to save Nodoka from the embarrassment of listening in.

"Oh thank God, Kamo-kun!" Negi hissed into the phone. "I need help! I insulted Nodoka-san in a terrible way! Please tell me, what should I do?"

'_Tsk tsk tsk. Now see aniki, that's the sort of thing I was warning you about,'_ Kamo said in an I-told-you-so sort of way.

"I know I'm such a fool for saying something so thoughtless...I don't deserve a nice girl like Nodoka-san! Please, Kamo-kun, help me make it up to her...!"

'_If you stop babbling and _LISTEN_ to what I'm trying to say,'_ Kamo said testily. _'Ahem. Have you thought that maybe you are mistaken?'_

"...eh?"

'_Aniki...'_ Kamo said, exasperation clear in his voice. '_What did you do?'_

Negi paused and thought about the situation. What _had_ he done? They had exited the school building and he had paused to check his watch, and then Nodoka-san had asked... Oh...oh. Oh! Had that been Nodoka-san's attempt at a joke? He shook his head in amusement and no small measure of relief. 'Ah, I truly am playing the fool today,' he thought regretfully. "Thank you Kamo-kun! Goodbye!" he said, hanging up the phone. He took a deep breath to calm himself, thinking idly that he seemed to have done that quite often today, and turned back to Nodoka, who seemed to be frozen in place, staring off into space.

* * *

><p>"Nodoka-san!"<p>

Nodoka was trapped in the throes of irritation at herself for her own stupid mistake. 'What is wrong with me today? This was supposed to be my first date with Negi-kun...! It was supposed to be **romantic**! But instead I'm making mistake after mistake, and now I have even made Negi-kun think he has insulted me...this isn't romantic at all...!'

"Nodoka-san!"

'Is it perhaps because I have never been on a date before...? I probably should have taken Paru up on her offer of a group date with Misa-san and the others when we entered high school...'

"Nodoka-san?"

Nodoka blinked as she shot back to reality. "E-eh? Ah! Wait, no, um... Yes, Negi-kun?" she asked, smiling sweetly again, just the way she had practiced in her mirror in preparation for the date.

Negi smiled confidently at her, making her heart flutter in her chest, and then took her hands in his as he stepped closer, looking her in the eyes with his best 'Nagi' gaze. "I am sorry for my disgraceful behavior earlier. I was mistaken; it was a very amusing joke."

Nodoka blinked as her mind reeled. '...what?'

"In any case," Negi said, abruptly letting go of her hands as he rubbed the back of his head, "the final day's event will start in thirty minutes; would you like to participate with me?"

Nodoka blinked again. '...joke? Wait, no, the final day's event! What was it this year? I never found out...! Was it a scavenger hunt again? I think I heard someone say it was...' "Ah, yes! I would love to!" she said.

* * *

><p>'WHY?' Nodoka's mind screamed as she stood next to Negi with a cheap plastic rain poncho draped over her. 'I thought they weren't going to do this kind of thing anymore! <em>WHY<em>? I wish I could just fly away...' The heavy weight of the bag in her left hand kept her well grounded in reality, however, as did the smaller weight of the water balloon in her right.

"Are you ready, Nodoka-san? It won't be long now," Negi said excitedly, next to her.

'_WHY_?'

* * *

><p>"All participants must remain in the plaza at all times! Getting hit by a water balloon fired by a member of the opposing team will result in disqualification! You can use anything for cover, but if you go into a building or car you will be disqualified! Also, no fighting! Additional water balloons may be obtained from the water balloon dispensers in the safe zones at the north and south ends of the plaza. In addition to this, please remember that this most wonderful of events is made possible by the rich, beautiful, and amazing dual princesses of Molmol, Amalla and Kaolla Su! Everyone, give them a hand!" the announcer said over the loudspeakers in the large plaza, where several giant screens had been installed to show an image of the princesses in question, two beautiful dark skinned blondes, enchantingly exotic, while the younger of the two who, for some unexplained reason, had a turtle riding on her head, waved and smiled at the camera.<p>

"Is everybody ready?" the announcer said. "Go!"

* * *

><p>Nodoka ducked the first water balloon to fly at her and quickly twisted aside, narrowly dodging the second. 'I can't get these clothes wet...!' she thought frantically as she tossed a water balloon at the nearest member of the opposing team, a boy from the high school. It hit him and exploded, and Nodoka's eyes went wide, one thought coursing through her mind: '<em><strong>PAINT<strong>_...?'

There was no time to waste in questioning the apparently insane reasoning of the officials behind the event, however, so Nodoka kept moving, throwing water balloons at any target that offered. However, being such a good shot, she quickly became a target and was forced to duck behind a car to avoid getting hit; just in time, too: she heard half a dozen water balloons impact against the other side of the car. Negi joined her a moment later, smiling excitedly, the same way he did when facing a strong opponent...it was a side of him that always stirred up excitement in Nodoka and, as usual, it sent her heart racing.

"Hello, Nodoka-san," Negi said. "I'm sorry we got separated...How many do you have left?" he asked, tossing a water balloon high in the air over the car to land on the head of an opposing player who had been trying to sneak around and get them from behind.

Nodoka quickly checked her bag. "Three. You?"

"Two. We'll need to restock," he said. He drew another out of his bag, and Nodoka did the same. "Are you ready?" he asked, looking at her again. Nodoka nodded, her eyes bright at the prospect of the two of them working together as a team again.

The two of them leaped from cover in sync, each throwing their water balloon and hitting their selected targets before taking off for the safe zone and water balloon dispenser at the north end of the plaza, ignoring the cries of the wounded and fallen.

* * *

><p>Ayaka smiled cheerily as Negi and Nodoka trotted up, completely out of water balloons. "Negi-kun, Nodoka-san! Did you need refreshments?" she asked, holding out a water bottle and a towel.<p>

"Not yet, Iincho-san," Negi said, using the same form of address he had used for her since they first met. "We need more water balloons..." he said, holding up his empty bag. Nodoka held up hers as well.

Ayaka smiled at the two of them. "Then you want Asuna; she's right over there," she said, pointing the way.

"Thank you, Iincho-san!" Negi said over his shoulder, already trotting off toward the other woman, who was already surrounded by a small crowd waiting for more water balloons.

"Thank you, Ayaka-san," Nodoka said. She turned and was about to set off after Negi when Ayaka spoke.

"Nodoka-san?"

Nodoka paused and turned back to her old friend. "Yes?"

Ayaka looked at her for a moment and gave her a lopsided smile. "Good luck."

Nodoka smiled in return, wondering if Ayaka had been wishing her luck in the event, or in her date. After a moment's thought, she decided it was both. "Thank you, Ayaka-san."

* * *

><p>"Oh no!" the announcer said. "The evil forces of King Zed have arrived! The golems are breaking through the barricades, and the only thing that can stop them are water balloons! Quick, everyone! You must stop fighting each other, and focus on these new enemies!"<p>

Negi sighed from behind his temporary cover, a hedge behind a park bench.

Nodoka couldn't help but roll her eyes. "He's calling himself a 'king' now?" she asked absently. 'King' Zed was a crazy local who had worked out how to create golems in large batches, and popped up from time to time to cause trouble. Normally, a golem invasion would be a terrible thing, but in 'King' Zed's case, since the powdery material he insisted on using for his golems, which was quite cheap and easy to acquire, was also easily soluble in just about anything as long as it was a liquid... A normal person with a garden hose equipped with a sprayer could put up a good fight, and Zed was always defeated quickly; nevertheless, he always seemed to take it in stride.

"AH ha ha ha ha ha!"

Nodoka had to bite back a groan as a familiar man with a bath towel cape, rubber gloves, and a bucket on his head stepped up on the hood of a small car and put one leg up on the roof to give himself a more appropriate image.

"Behold! _IT IS I_!" he said, gesturing out at the crowd, which had generally stopped fighting in order to gather around and see what was going on. "I am..._KING ZED_! For too long I have waited, lurking in the shadows, while others laugh and play in the light of day! For too long, I have focused on building my armies. For too long, I have waited..." he said, lowering his head in an exaggerated manner, as if recalling some terrible past. "I have been laughed at, ridiculed, taken lightly... Well," he said, raising his head and looking out at the crowd through the eye holes in his bucket, "you have taken me lightly..._LONG ENOUGH_!"

As if on cue, rows and rows of four-foot sugar golems marched forward and came to a stop just behind him as he put his hands on his hips and his chest swelled with pride. "My time is now, and I WILL SEIZE IT _WITH MY OWN __**TWO HANDS**_! Go, my fearsome and terrible golems, _**ATTACK!**_"

Negi and Nodoka looked at each other, eyes wide, and burst into laughter, an act mirrored by most of the crowd...at least, until the sugar golems got moving, at which point a massive amount of water balloons went flying through the air and struck down the majority of the first wave, leaving behind a sticky, multicolored mess in the street.

"My comrades...! Do not worry, you won't be forgotten!" King Zed declared. He stood up a little straighter and puffed out his chest. "Second wave! _Attack!_" he said, moving his arm in a swift, sweeping gesture.

The second wave of sugar golems, larger than the first, came on and the water balloons began to fly more sporadically as the remaining players began to run out of ammunition.

"My golems! It is time! _NOW_!" King Zed declared. The remaining sugar golems of the second wave knelt down, pointed the ends of their stubby arms at the players, and let fly with big blobs of sticky sugar.

"No...! Kotarou-kun!"

Negi and Nodoka turned to see Natsumi, kneeling over a fallen Kotarou, who seemed to be glued to the pavement by a huge blob of sugar.

"Natsumi! _Run!_" Kotarou said an instant too late as another blob hit Natsumi in the side. She fell over Kotarou as the blob grew and cemented the two of them together.

"I'm...sorry Kotarou-kun; I wasn't fast enough..." she said, trying to tug her hand away from where it had just been glued to Kotarou's chest. It wouldn't budge and she quickly stopped trying; besides, Kotarou had instinctively wrapped his free arm around her when she fell, and his hand was now glued to the blob on her side, effectively trapping her in a hug.

Kotarou heaved a sigh, looking around the battlefield at the others who had been unlucky enough to receive direct hits. It was then that he spotted Negi and Nodoka, both quite red and looking as if they were struggling to hold back laughter.

"Say a _word_ about this and I'll kill you both!"

* * *

><p>Ava took a good long look around the street she had found herself in. That tiny feeling in her head, the one that told her what she was looking for was nearby, was quickly becoming overpowering; she was short of breath, her heart was pounding, and she <em>knew<em> that the one she was looking for was a mere hundred yards away. The sensation was overwhelming, and it was all she could do to keep from throwing off her ragged, road-worn wizard robe and breaking into a sprint. She peered through the crowd, trying to get a glimpse of the one she was looking for, and just managed to catch a flash of long black hair that set her heart racing even faster. Unable to contain herself any longer, she pushed through the crowd toward where she had seen _the one_, ignoring everyone's protests at being shoved aside, and finally broke through the crowd and caught her first good look at the one she had been searching for.

Long, long legs in a pair of jeans that fit snugly at the hips and rear, a light t-shirt with some character printed on the front, just barely visible as she stood there with her side toward Ava, smiling at a tall man who stood beside her. A big chest, long, beautiful black hair that went all the way down her back, pale, pretty skin...those eyes, so, so deep and blue.

Ava swallowed, her throat suddenly dry, and broken into a stumbling run. She had crossed a fraction of the distance between them, a mere twenty yards, before the woman noticed her movement and glanced over at her. Their eyes met, she started to run faster, her hood fell back, and she saw the beautiful woman's eyes widen in alarm. Ava distantly realized she was crying as she came to within ten yards, eight, five -the woman she had been searching for was _right there_...!- and then the big man stepped between them. Ava gathered her power and swatted him aside, and then she was _there_, her arms wrapped around the woman, her face buried in the crook of the woman's neck, sobbing, and she could _feel it_, this was _right_, this was _good_, she was finally in a place she belonged...! After so long on the road, after all she had been through, she was finally _there_, and she would never leave again...! She was dimly aware of the woman hesitantly trying to pry her hands loose from where they grasped handfuls of her shirt, but she didn't care. She was just so tired, exhausted, worn out and soul-weary after so long on the road without Ruden... She felt as if she was going to faint, but she didn't care; she was _there_, she was finally _there..._! Her vision began to fill with little black spots and the world began to disappear until all she could feel was the warmth, the _rightness_, of the woman she was clinging to, and then, slowly, that too faded, and she knew nothing more.

* * *

><p>Negi unlocked the door of his apartment and held it open for Nodoka. "Sorry about the water balloon..." he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as she took off her shoes in the entryway and set them neatly aside.<p>

"It's okay," Nodoka said as she took the rare opportunity presented to peer at anything and everything in sight. To be honest, she didn't really care that Negi had accidentally hit her with a water balloon during the chaotic final moments of the event; she was more interesting in being invited into Negi's apartment. She had rarely had the opportunity to come inside, and she couldn't help but wonder what he might have, hidden away... She paused in her initial sweep of the room as she spotted a rather feminine t-shirt draped over the back of one of the two chairs under the small table by the window, and her spirits dipped as she realized just how close Negi and Asuna must be for Asuna to be comfortable with leaving her clothes lying around. She continued her sweep of the room, noting the position of the various doors that opened off of either side. She knew the small kitchen was past that open doorway on the right, while Negi's room was on the other side of the one on the left. The bathroom was beside the kitchen, which meant...there was only one bedroom? Did they sleep in the same room...? Nodoka kept careful control of her expression to keep her curiosity from showing while Negi took off his own shoes and placed them beside Nodoka's in the entryway, apologizing the whole time.

"Where does Asuna-san keep her clothes?" Nodoka asked, looking back at Negi and giving him the best smile she could conjure up under the circumstances.

"Oh...I insisted she put her things in the bedroom closet," Negi said. "I insisted she take the bedroom, after all; it was the only polite thing to do. The couch can be quite comfortable..." he added awkwardly, looking down at the couch, which was rather short and most assuredly not of the fold-out type.

"I...I see," Nodoka said as she eyed the bedroom door. "Are you sure Asuna-san won't mind if I borrow some of her clothes?"

"I am sure she won't mind," Negi said as he trotted over to the kitchen and began rooting around in one of the cabinets. "I'll get a plastic bag for your wet clothes."

"Okay..." Nodoka said as she approached the bedroom door. She reached for the doorknob, but hesitated. Inside the room was the bed Negi had slept in for close to six years; she wondered briefly if the room would smell like him, and found herself blushing over the weird thought. 'Come on Nodoka! Be strong! You're not a child anymore; it is just a friend's bedroom.' And, with that thought, she turned the doorknob and opened the door.

Inside...the room was a mess. Dirty clothes lay in several heaps on the floor, and pieces of women's underwear lay out in the open. Nodoka heaved a sigh as she made her way over to the closet. Whoever had slept in the room in the past, now it was without a doubt Asuna's room. She stepped over a tall boot that had been tossed aside and forgotten and opened the closet door, fully expecting to find little left inside. Fortunately, it seemed that Asuna had a lot of clothes; in spite of the dirty clothes lying around the room, there was quite a bit still left behind in the closet. She thumbed through the few dresses, but they were all too large for her; Asuna was several inches taller, as well as far more athletic and, in spite of both of them being twenty one, Nodoka had to reluctantly admit that Asuna was more blessed in certain anatomical areas than she was herself. She skipped the cluster of winter clothes and moved on to the dozen or so t-shirts, where she found one that wasn't too big for her. That done, she moved over to the dresser, where she hesitated. 'What should I do about underwear...?' she wondered. Her own was still wet after the soaking she had received at Negi's hands during the Third Day Event's finale against 'King' Zed's sugar golem army. She pulled open the top drawer, which was, as she had expected, filled with Asuna's underthings, and quickly pushed it shut. No, old friends or not, that was going too far. "I will just have to deal with it," she said aloud as she pulled open the second drawer, which was full of folded pairs of pants. She poked around for a moment before finding a pair that didn't look too long and didn't clash too badly with the t-shirt she had chosen from the closet. It wasn't quite the right size, but... 'This will do.'

* * *

><p>Negi, idly holding the forgotten trash bag he had found for Nodoka's clothes, watched the door Nodoka had disappeared through mere moments before. His heart was pounding, his eyes were darting around, and his mouth had gone dry, all because of a single, simple thought: behind that door, Nodoka was changing her clothes. A mere ten feet away was the girl—no, the woman—with whom he was currently on a date, taking her clothes off. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and tore his eyes away from the door, then turned his back to it.<p>

"Come on Negi, get a hold of yourself," he mumbled. 'Sure, she's in there, changing her clothes, but...but...uh...where was I...?' he paused again as his teenage hormones raged and his thoughts ran wild.

"No! No no no no no! This is _not_ right!" he said aloud, clenching his eyes shut. "Come on Negi, take a deep breath and clear your mind, just like Ku-sensei taught you!" He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, held it, let it out, then did it again and finally a third time. When he opened his eyes, his heart rate had slowed considerably, and he felt as if he might just get through the date without his heart jumping out of his chest or up through his throat. "Okay. Am I calm? I am calm," he said to the room at large. "Cool and calm. Calm and cool. Cool as a cucumber, that's me; the coolest cucumber in the garden. Yes, totally and completely-"

"...Negi-kun? Who are you talking to?"

"_GYAAH_!" Negi screeched as he whirled around to face Nodoka, who had emerged from the bedroom in a surprisingly cute t-shirt and jeans combo that sent his heart racing again.

"Is that for my clothes?" Nodoka asked.

Negi blinked stupidly for a moment and looked down at the plastic trash bag he was holding, entirely forgotten, in his left hand. "Oh, ah...yes, yes it is. Here you go," he said, handing it over.

Nodoka took it, smiled, and put her wet clothes inside.

"Well then," Negi said when everything was squared away a moment later. "Let us go to the concert, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Ava clung to the warmth of the body next to her. It moved, but she only cuddled in closer, trying to lose herself in that soft warmth. She was just so tired, weary down to her soul, and the warmth she felt right here, right now, was just like how she imagined home would be to an exhausted child. She had never had that luxury; even after the remains of her once-proud, once-noble family took her in, there were no warm hugs from a mother, no one to comfort her when a favorite toy was lost or broken. Instead, there were strict rules, strict teachers, and strict coldness from everyone around her. Here, she felt <em>right<em>, here, clinging to the warm figure next to her, she felt as if she had come _home._ The figure moved again and she clung even more tightly, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Hey, I think she's waking up," someone said nearby. Ava moaned and buried her face in the figure's shoulder, not thin or frail but strong, athletic, and definitely feminine. She felt someone gently lay a hand on the back of her head, and tears came unbidden.

"Why are you crying?" a gentle voice asked. Ava didn't know why, but something about that voice rocked her down to her core; it just felt so..._right_.

"I don't know," Ava mumbled into the figure's shoulder.

"Can you look at me?"

Ava reluctantly opened her eyes to let the harsh light of the afternoon sun bring color back to her vision, and there, right next to her, sat a girl several years younger than she was herself, her hair long and black, her eyes blue like the depths of the sea, and it was all Ava could do to loosen her grip and finally draw away, feeling as she had when she had torn herself away from Ruden back in Mundus Magicus. "I finally found you," she said, smiling helplessly as tears again began to fall.

* * *

><p>Akira didn't quite know how to react when the strange woman came running out of the crowd, swatted Max aside without even looking at him, and all but tackled her to the ground, but something about the woman clinging to her had kept her from pushing her away; she didn't quite understand it, but...the woman just seemed so <em>content<em> that she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she had been left virtually helpless, looking to the others for some idea of what to do.

"Why aren't you listening to me?" a young man demanded nearby, fury in his tone.

"Because here in Japan, we don't _murder people for existing!_" Max bellowed back.

"I'm telling you she's dangerous!" the young man, Akira thought his name was Sear or something like it, continued. He had been hanging around with Max for days and shooting glares at her, and Negi's old friend Anya seemed to be always hanging around _him_. For some reason, Anya and Sear or Cyrr or whatever his name was had been quite embarrassed when they met Jennifer...Akira didn't quite understand it, but it seemed that the three had met up earlier and had some sort of embarrassing experience; though with the way Jennifer was always grinning at them when she wasn't at her new job in that jewelry store, it seemed she had merely witnessed the incident.

"You think _she's_ dangerous? You try anything and you'll see she's a little pussycat next to _me_," Max replied while Anya stood off to the side, rubbing her forehead as if she felt a migraine coming on.

Akira turned her attention away from the three fire mages and back toward the strange woman and the unusual sensation her close proximity had stirred. It was almost as if...as if they were long lost sisters, family that had been separated for a lifetime. She cradled the woman as she sat leaning against the short wall she had been pushed against by the woman's tackle, and gently laid her hand on the back of the woman's head, smoothing her hair.

"Hey, I think she's waking up," Anya suddenly said, peering at the strange woman's face. The stranger moaned and buried her face into Akira's shoulder, moistening her shirt with her tears.

Akira brushed the strange woman's hair out of her face. "Why are you crying?"

Much to her surprise, the strange woman spoke, still clinging to her and hiding her face. "I don't know."

Akira frowned thoughtfully as she looked down at the top of the woman's head, and her odd, bluish hair. "Can you look at me?"

The woman reluctantly opened her eyes, clearly exhausted, and looked deep into Akira's own. She pulled back from Akira, only loosening her grip with real reluctance until the two of them were at arm's length, and smiled helplessly as her tears started up again. "I finally found you," she said, that same smile in place and clearly showing how helpless and out of place the woman felt.

"So, what's your name?" Max asked.

Akira gaped at the sudden change in the woman's expresion. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in her; one moment she was docile, helpless, clinging to Akira like a child, and the next she was up on her feet and Akira somehow _knew_ that she was reaching for Max's water, just as she herself could.

Max grunted, his face twisting into a snarl as he set his feet as if under an unexpected weight. "No!" Cyrr bellowed as he darted forward, reaching for the woman. Anya screamed and collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach as she writhed in agony, and then Max stood up straight, stiff-armed Cyrr in the face, knocking him to the ground before he could attack, and sent one _hell_ of a glare at the woman. Akira felt his fire flare up, stronger than she had ever felt it before, and it set her heart racing in barely understood excitement; he was _furious_. The woman's eyes got huge and she fell back into Akira, scrambling backward as Max approached.

Akira put her arms around the woman in a comforting hug from behind and half-turned her away from Max so she wouldn't have to face his fury directly. The woman flinched at her touch and clung to her, sobbing.

"He's so _strong,_" she said, terror in her voice as she tried to get away. A huge shape loomed over her and she flinched back again, almost tearing herself from Akira's grip.

"Shh, it's okay," Akira murmured into her ear as she held her in place, her grip strong as steel.

"Who are you?" Max demanded, his voice low and dangerous in a way Akira hadn't heard in _years; _it brought feelings bubbling to the surface she hadn't even been aware of before.

The woman tried to strike out at him again, but Akira used her own ability to block the attempt, turning the woman's reach in on itself, something she hadn't even been aware was possible. The woman's shocked, betrayed gaze turned to Akira. "Why did you stop me? He's dangerous! He's...he's going to kill me!" she whispered.

Akira just shook her head, trying to ignore the crowds moving around them as she smiled crookedly at the woman. "Of course he's dangerous; so am I. And so are you, I think," she said gently. She looked around at the others; Anya had regained her feet, though she looked very, very gray, as did Cyrr, who was decidedly unsteady on his feet, though whether that unsteadiness was from the strange woman's attack or Max's blow to the face, Akira wasn't sure. In any case, the look the woman was giving her was almost heartbreaking. Confusion, anger, fear, but most of all, betrayal... Akira didn't know why she herself felt so strongly for this woman, but she couldn't just let her go on thinking the wrong thing. "He's a friend, a very important one, and if you try to hurt him, I...I won't be able to forgive you," Akira said, not unkindly.

"You're a water elemental, aren't you?" Max asked quietly, glancing around at the increasing numbers of people standing around, watching the altercation. He locked eyes with Akira for an instant, and she stood up, pulling the woman up with her.

"Come on, we need to go somewhere else," Akira said. She glanced at Max again, but he was already moving off, Anya right behind him looking back at Cyrr, who followed along sulkily behind. She couldn't help but smile; she and Max knew each other so well...Jennifer too, for that matter. The three of them sometimes didn't even need to speak at all. She led the strange woman along, making sure to stay several steps behind Cyrr, who kept turning to glare back at them. It was obvious he didn't want the woman behind him, but he knew well enough to keep from trying to attack her again; Akira wasn't so sure this strange woman was in any condition to exert such self control at the moment, however; it was safer to have her in the back, so she had the fire mages in clear sight and didn't have to worry about being attacked from behind. She glanced over and saw the woman had once again pulled her hood up, hiding her face in shadow, and Akira took her hand. The woman gave her a startled look that she quickly focused on the ground before her as they walked, and allowed Akira to lead the way.

* * *

><p>"You..." Kotarou growled, flat on his back on the floor of the small diner Natsumi managed, clenching his teeth as he glared in the harsh light.<p>

The strange woman's own gaze said everything that needed to be said; Kotarou was nothing more than a stain on the bottom of her shoe. She pressed her blade down with all her strength, trying to lever it far enough up to tilt over the _other_ blade, the one Natsumi held with all her strength and Kotarou was currently supporting with his own shadow-based magic, building up around his hands as he focused his power into keeping his small shield up.

Natsumi tried her best to hold back the stranger's blade, something that looked for all the world like a light saber, with her own, a poor copy hastily created with her own light magic after seeing the other woman. The stranger was obviously some sort of swordmaster, and it was all Kotarou and Natsumi could do to keep her blade from pivoting over and cutting into Kotarou's face. 'Why is this happening?' she thought frantically. They had just come back to the diner after the water balloon battle to get something she had forgotten, when a pale woman with a long white ponytail seated quietly at a table in the corner had waited until Natsumi was behind the counter and Kotarou had his back turned and then jumped him with almost feline grace and some bizarre sword made out of what looked like nothing but light magic...it was all but a miracle that Kotarou had managed to react in time and get a shield up. His first shield, however, had only managed to deflect the blade, the impact of which had disintegrated it with ease; the second one had faired only marginally better, but that was all the time Natsumi had needed to scramble over the counter and interpose her own sword between the two combatants, resulting in the current situation. Natsumi was no swordswoman, however, though she knew, from watching and participating in many practice sessions involving other sword users, that her current position left her wide open to attack; if the attacker wanted to hurt her, she could have done so at any time.

"Damn you...!" Kotarou growled again.

The woman grinned unpleasantly, showing her clean white teeth and pointy canines. "_Scum_," she spat.

"He...is...not..._SCUM!_" Natsumi screamed as she heaved her blade up with a tremendous effort, actually forcing the woman off balance.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she lost her stance for an instant, but that was all it took for Kotarou to bury his fist in her stomach, driving her back. The woman recovered quickly, however, far too quickly for the force he had used, and darted forward, sword poised to run him through...and then Natsumi jumped in front of him, her arms out to the sides blocking any attempt at going around her, and the woman abruptly halted, the tip of her blade half an inch from Natsumi's chest, her eyes boring into Natsumi's.

"Move," the woman said, her voice cold, her gaze promising violence.

Natsumi met her gaze and held it with little trouble. "No," she said.

"I will run you through, don't think I won't," the woman replied.

Natsumi watched her for a long, long moment, saw the sweat drop run down from the woman's hairline, and smiled gently. "No, you won't," she said. She started to move forward, and the woman reluctantly took a step back. "Who are you?" Natsumi asked. "Why did you attack Kotarou-kun?"

Another sweat drop rolled down the woman's cheek as she took another step back. Natsumi held her gaze, the woman's eyes a dark, beautiful blue, but a _normal_ blue, not like Akira's, and took another step forward, and the white haired woman closed her eyes, sighed, and dismissed her blade. "It was a test."

Natsumi relaxed and cocked her head to the side, curious. "A test? What do you mean?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Kotarou said as he moved up to stand beside Natsumi, glaring at the woman. "You know I was ready to kill you, right?"

The woman met his glare, her gaze level. "You would not have found it easy." She turned her attention back to Natsumi, the edges of her mouth quirked upward in the merest ghost of a smile, and she went down on one knee and bowed her head.

"What...?" Natsumi asked cautiously. The woman just kept _insisting_ on doing all of these strange things...she didn't know what to make of her at all.

Then, the woman began to speak and Natsumi's eyes bugged out.

"I am called the White Tiger, Linda Cale. My lady, the Queen of Light, I swear to follow you for the rest of my life, to do my best to protect you from harm, and to help you in any way I can and never betray you; this I swear to you, my lady."

Natsumi went very, very quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and serious, so much so that even Kotarou gave her a strange look.

"How do you know that name?" Natsumi asked. Linda looked up, and her eyes widened slightly at the deathly serious expression on the other woman's face. "Tell me, _how do you know that name_?" Natsumi asked, her tone intense.

Linda's eyes narrowed as she calculated the distance to the exits and any obstacles in the way. "Someone I know referred to you by that name-"

"What is his name?" Natsumi demanded.

Linda paused, considering how to continue, Kotarou thought. "He said you would-"

"_TELL. ME. HIS. NAME,_" Natsumi said, her eyes flaring silvery white even through her colored contacts.

Linda frowned, the stern expression she had worn the whole time finally starting to falter. "His name is Alexander," Linda said. "Alexander Stratos, Fifth among the Great Vampire Lor—hrk!"

Linda was cut off as Kotarou shot forward and knocked her to the ground and put her in a choke hold. "You should think very carefully about what you say next," Kotarou growled into her ear, shadowy power gathering around the finger he held against the side of her head while Natsumi knelt down in front of her.

"Did he send you here?" Natsumi asked, any trace of gentleness gone from her voice.

Linda nodded, her face starting to go red from the restricted blood flow.

"Why?"

Linda tried to mouth words, but Kotarou's choke hold was too tight for any sound. Natsumi looked up at him, and he loosened the hold slightly. He gave her a moment to gasp for breath, then tightened the hold again. "Answer her."

Linda looked at Natsumi, her eyes narrow and hiding any emotion as she tried to fight back the panic that threatened to overwhelm her at the sight of that blank expression. Stratos had told her these two were dangerous, but she hadn't known just how dangerous they could be. Still, she had taken precautions; she had watched their movements for three weeks, she had trained almost constantly to ensure her skills remained as sharp as they could be, she had waited until the perfect moment for her attack...and still she had been stopped with relative ease. Sure, she hadn't expected to actually be able to kill the one the Queen of Light had chosen as her lover, shadow user that he was, but now she was lying on the floor, helpless, only alive thanks to the whim of the two...such a crushing defeat had been utterly unexpected, and it sent her heart racing in excitement in anticipation of future fighting. The Queen of Light...when Linda had first heard about her, she had taken a good look at the unassuming, mousy young woman in the picture Stratos had given her and dismissed her as any sort of a threat, even with Stratos' warnings. Boy, had _that_ ever been a mistake...! This looked like it might be interesting after all...

She looked up at Natsumi. "He sent me..."

* * *

><p>"...to make sure you survive."<p>

Natsumi and Kotarou shared a quick look. "Did he tell you what he did to me two years ago?" Natsumi asked, looking back down at Linda, her expression stern, no longer the blank mask that had so obviously disturbed the woman a mere moment before.

Linda shook her head as far as Kotarou's loosened choke hold would allow. "No, he did not; he did warn me that you would be angry to hear his name, however."

"So...you just came here because he told you to?" Kotarou said.

The corner of Linda's mouth twitched in what might have been amusement. "No, not for that reason alone." She focused on Natsumi again. "I gave you my oath, and I will follow it. I am a light elemental, and you are my queen. I have been waiting for your awakening my whole life; imagine my joy on that day two years ago when it finally happened," she said, her gaze going distant at the memory. "Stratos is looking for the elementals. I was the first he'd found; he told me what was happening, why I felt the need to come to Mundus Vetus. I would imagine that since the other elemental kings are awakening, the same thing is happening to them, though I would imagine most of those who feel the need to go to their kings have no idea what is going on."

Kotarou and Natsumi glanced at each other for a moment.

Kotarou cocked an eyebrow. _Let her go?_

Natsumi looked from Kotarou down to Linda's face and back up, and dipped her head a fraction of an inch. _Do it, but be careful._

When Kotarou had released her, Linda stood up and Natsumi got her first good look at the woman. She was quite tall and long legged; the long skirt she wore had a slit in the side that went most of the way up, though evidently it was more for ease of movement than any aesthetic purpose. She also wore a modest blouse and a pair of low heels; Natsumi spotted a small purple purse lying on the table the woman had been seated at earlier. Her strange, silvery-white hair was quite long; even in its high ponytail her hair reached down to her waist, and her eyes were a deep, dark, yet ordinary shade of blue that appeared quite striking contrasted with her pale skin and white hair. Natsumi couldn't be sure of her age, but thought she might have been in her late twenties. Overall, Linda Cale couldn't be called beautiful or even very pretty, but she was far from unattractive and did have a very striking appearance, even by Mahora's standards; Natsumi thought she might have been quite cute as a child. Still, she had seen more striking people; some among her own circle of friends. But in any case, what was the woman planning to do? She had sworn fealty to Natsumi...so Natsumi figured at the very least, she had to make sure the woman had a place to stay.

"Linda...san," Natsumi said awkwardly, unsure of how to speak to the woman.

"Yes, my queen?" Linda replied. Natsumi couldn't help but feel that the woman seemed somehow amused, though her expression was tightly controlled, serious.

"Do you have a place to stay? And you can just call me Natsumi, or Murakami if you want," she added.

"Of course, Murakami," Linda replied. "I am currently living in a small apartment overlooking the river and warehouse district; don't worry about me, my living quarters are quite adequate."

Natsumi and Kotarou shared a quick look. A small apartment near the river and the warehouse district? If ever Mahora had an area that could be considered the 'wrong side of the tracks', that was it. "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to live somewhere more...more..." Natsumi trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"Safe?" Linda supplied. "I have lived in far worse places; as I said, don't worry about me. Ever since the first night when I left my attacker in need of medical assistance, I haven't had a problem."

Natsumi and Kotarou looked at each other.

"That's..." Kotarou started.

"...nice," Natsumi said. "I think, um... are you _sure_ you don't want to live somewhere else?"

Linda gave her a curious look. "No...I must continue my training, or I could grow soft and unable to follow you."

Kotarou sighed and rolled his eyes as he stepped forward and smacked her on the back; she gave him a wary look. "Well if it's training you're talking about, there's no problem with getting as much of _that_ as you can stomach." He glanced over at Natsumi. "Wanna introduce her to Eva?"

* * *

><p>"It is now seven o'clock, and you know what that means!" the man in the in the sunglasses and nifty hat said as he stood in front of the microphone on the big band stage. The audience area was packed, the crowd extending out through the far end with a large number of people watching from windows, rooftops, and even tree branches, waiting for what came next. He waited for them to quiet down before speaking again. "Now, our next band is a group of four local girls you all know and love. They need no introduction, but that's what I'm getting paid for so here's <em>DEKOPIN ROCKET!"<em>

The crowd went wild as four figures trotted out onto the stage. One long haired woman stepped up to the microphone.

"Hello Mahora!" Misa said. The crowd went crazy, prompting her to smile hugely. "Are you ready to _**ROCK**_?" The crowd screamed even more loudly. "I couldn't hear you!" The crowd got even louder and Misa was about to continue on in the same manner when Madoka trotted over.

"Come on, wrap it up; we have a time limit," she said.

Misa grinned at her. "You're right; let's do this." She turned to beam at the crowd as Madoka trotted back to her place, raised her guitar pick high in the air, and dove into the first song of their set.

* * *

><p>Negi and Nodoka, having been forced to go halfway across town to Negi's apartment for a change of clothes, was unfortunately too late to get a good spot to watch their friends play up on stage, and were instead forced to resort to climbing up a tree to be able to see the stage.<p>

Negi reached the highest branch he felt could hold his weight and looked down at Nodoka, who was searching for a handhold. He smiled at her, reached down, and took her hand, pulling her up to sit beside him. He couldn't help but stare at her pleasantly flushed face for a moment, but quickly looked away when she turned to look at him. Seated together on the branch as they were, there was no room for personal space; their shoulders and the sides of their legs were touching, and Negi realized his own face was probably as red as his date's.

"Ooh, here they come!" Nodoka said excitedly while the band members walked out on stage.

"Ako-san isn't there..." Negi said, squinting. "Who...?" He couldn't quite make out who it was holding that oddly familiar blue instrument, but it most certainly was _not_ Izumi Ako. Ako-san wasn't quite that... that _gifted_...in certain anatomical areas.

"Isn't that...one of your students?" Nodoka asked, squinting as well. "That American girl?"

"Really? Which one?" Negi asked; he had several in his class this year. He called up a simple far-seeing spell and nodded, surprised. "That is Kara Stride; she plays the bass guitar in another band. I wonder what she is doing here?"

"They must not have been able to find Ako-chan," Nodoka said.

Negi felt her tense up and, recalling Asuna's advice and the videos she had shown him, reached up and slipped his arm around her back, pulling her close enough to close the already miniscule gap between them. Nodoka tensed up further for an instant, but quickly relaxed and leaned into him.

'She's...she so soft!' he thought, his heart racing as the faint remains of her perfume drifted through his senses. She reached up and put her hand on his. 'I...I must be the luckiest man on the planet,' he thought to himself, lost in the sheer innocent joy of sitting beside a girl who obviously liked him.

Then the band on stage broke into a wild punk-like song that had the crowd roaring and completely ruined the moment. Nodoka reluctantly released Negi's hand and he drew his arm away, accidentally letting his fingers run across Nodoka's back as he pulled his arm back, his body slow and unwilling to break contact so soon. He felt her shiver as she clamped her hands together between her knees, and quickly looked away.

Needless to say, they didn't get much out of the first song.

* * *

><p>Misa smiled back at Kara, then turned back to the microphone, finishing up the last lines of the song. She was really quite proud of the girl; so young, and already such a good bassist! There was no way Kara could replace Ako, but she made a great substitute in a pinch. For that matter, Ayumi would make a great substitute for Madoka, if she ever got sick or had to take time off...both Kara and Ayumi were amazing with their instruments for their age; not at Dekopin Rocket's level, but perhaps, in the future... She finished singing, concentrated on the brief guitar solo at the end, and then the song was done and she was grinning out at the audience as they screamed. She glanced back at Kara again, looking incredibly shy and cute as she stood well back in what little shadow was offered by the raised platform containing Sakurako's drum set, all but hiding behind her bass, and grinned even wider as she took the microphone from its stand and walked up to the edge of the stage. She glanced back at her friends and couldn't help but smirk at Madoka's suddenly annoyed expression, and then turned her attention out to the audience and raised the microphone to her lips.<p>

"Now I know you guys all liked that, right?" She paused while they screamed for a moment. "Well, I liked it too. Of course, I wrote that one, so yeah. But anyway!" she said, pointing up at the sky in a rather distracting pose that drew attention to her curves. "As you may have noticed, Ako, our normal bassist, isn't here with us tonight. Yeah yeah, I know, it's sad," she said, looking down at group of heartbroken twenty-something guys in the front row wearing t-shirts with 'I Heart Ako-chan' printed on them. "Something came up and she just couldn't make it. But, temporarily taking her place, introducing Dekopin Rocket's official back-up bass player, the bassist of the No Name Band, winner of the Day One Fan Favorite award, Kara Stride! Give her a hand, everybody! C'mere Kara-chan, say something to these nice people," Misa said, grinning at the girl in question, who looked horrified.

* * *

><p>Negi and Nodoka watched, curious, as Kara said something to Misa that wasn't picked up by the microphone. Misa thrust the microphone into her hands, however, and gestured out at the crowd as if to tell her 'get on with it', and stepped back to give her some space, clapping.<p>

Kara stepped forward into the center of the stage, and one of the spotlights moved to focus on her. She jerked nervously, looking out over the enormous crowd, and brought the microphone up, holding it with both hands. "U-um...I'm...I'm Kara, it's...it's really..."

Negi had a sudden urge to rub his eyes. Nodoka moved beside him and he saw she was already rubbing hers. The temperature seemed to have jumped a few degrees, and he realized he was a little short of breath. What on Earth...? He had a sudden urge to...have kids? A dozen perhaps, give or take a few? Sure, he had thought about it over the years, but...

Meanwhile, Kara continued on and he realized the crowd had grown oddly quiet and fidgety; Negi rubbed his eyes again and looked out over them. It seemed every face was focused directly on the girl up on stage.

* * *

><p>"S-so, um, I...I'd like to thank e-everyone for this opportunity," Kara said, so nervous that her voice wavered the whole time and almost cracked at the end.<p>

Misa shook herself out of her stupor and rubbed her eyes. 'A dozen kids, give or take a few...' she thought, then shook her head to clear it. _That_ had been kinda strange...Kara hesitantly held the microphone out to her, and she pushed away the odd feeling that had come over her while the other girl moved back to stand near her previous spot, though not so far back in the shadows as before. Misa took a moment to collect herself and turned back to the crowd, lifted the microphone, and began to speak. "S-so there you go, Kara Stride, bassist of the No Name Band! Give her a hand!" The crowd did as it was told, but remained oddly shifting and subdued. Misa had never seen anything like it. When you got twenty thousand people together, there was just no such thing as _quiet_. She shook it off and glanced at Madoka, who shook her head. "Okay then, I _know _you guys know this next one! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Negi watched the band dive into another song, this one one of their more famous ones, fitting distinctly into the rock genre, and the crowd quickly shook off whatever had been wrong with it and was soon cheering just as loudly as before.<p>

Still...that whole incident was strange. He frowned and glanced at Nodoka, who quickly met his gaze.

"You...felt that, right?" she asked.

Negi nodded. "Everyone else did as well; it happened when Kara-san was speaking. It felt almost like the effect of some sort of spell... I wonder what it was?"

Nodoka looked around at the crowd. "It looks like everyone is back to normal..."

"Yes; let's just enjoy the rest of the show," Negi said, filing away the unusual incident for future investigation.

* * *

><p>Misa watched in admiration as Kara tackled a simplified version of the extremely difficult bass solo Ako had perfected for their current song, and actually did a pretty good job of it. Not nearly as good as Ako could do it, but still very, very good for someone who had just barely been able to do it during practice. The girl wasn't up to her standards yet, but if she continued on like this, Misa knew she would get there eventually. Not a bad way to end their set, actually...though they had actually planned on Ako doing it; there was no telling what kind of response Kara would get from the crowd, though, from what Misa could see, they liked her quite a bit. Sakurako started up on her drums, working into the solo, followed a moment later by Madoka on rhythm guitar, and then it was Misa's turn, and she no longer had any time for contemplation as she blazed into the hardest guitar riff in the song.<p>

* * *

><p>"That was great! I can't believe how much the crowd loved you!" Misa said as she grabbed Kara's hands when they had all made their way backstage.<p>

"Eh? Really?" Kara replied, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Yeah, really! What I said up on stage, about you being our backup bassist, I meant it, Kara-chan. If you want, you can join us whenever Ako can't make it."

Kara looked from Misa to Sakurako and finally Madoka, both of whom smiled confidently at her and nodded, and back to Misa. "I...I will! Thank you, oh thank you...!" she said, forgetting herself for a moment as she threw her arms around Misa and hugged her. "Thank you thank you oh _thank_ you!"

Sakurako shot a sly glance at Madoka, who stood gaping as she watched, her hands twitching, and stifled a giggle.

"Thank you! You don't have any idea how much this means to me! Just wait until I tell Ayumi, she'll be thrilled!" Kara said, smiling at Misa in such a joyous manner that Misa couldn't help but reciprocate. Kara was just so enthusiastic... it brought her back to the old days, back when they first formed the band back in middle school, back when Sakurako and Madoka swapped bass duties back and forth until they finally convinced Ako to join; everything had clicked together from almost the first time the four of them practiced together, and except for a short time in high school, they hadn't ever stopped playing.

Misa smiled crookedly at the enthusiastic girl; she kinda wanted to hug her again...she glanced back at Madoka and smiled more widely as she went to stand beside her, surreptitiously taking her hand. "You probably have other things you wanted to do, right?" Misa said. "Go on and have fun. Keep your cell phone on though; we might need to contact you later."

Kara nodded, smiling wide at Misa in a way that made her feel strangely warm. "I will! Thank you!" she said, all but skipping toward the door, guitar case in hand. She paused at the door to turn back and wave. Misa, Madoka, and Sakurako all waved back, and then Kara was off through the doorway and gone.

When the door swung shut, Madoka turned toward Misa, squeezing her hand gently. "Well that went better than I thought...but you probably should've told her her to tell the others they can play with us too when—mmph?"

Sakurako blinked at the two figures on the floor for a moment. "Um...yeah. Okay, I think I'm going to go...somewhere else. Have fun~!" she said, trotting toward the door.

"Mmph! Puah, gah! Get off of me, Misa! Hey! Where are you going Sakurako! You traitor, you—mmph!"

* * *

><p>"Kara-san is really quite good," Negi said idly as they approached the apartment building where Nodoka lived. He barely even felt the weight of the plastic bag he was holding, containing a handful of items he and Nodoka had picked up at the various temporary booths that dotted the streets during the festival.<p>

"Mm-hmm," Nodoka said, nodding as she walked along, her hands clutched together behind her as she looked up at the late evening sky. "I'm worried about Ako, though..."

Negi nodded. He noted idly that their walking pace had slowed considerably since they had turned on to Nodoka's street. "I hope she contacts someone soon...I heard she wasn't answering her cell phone."

An awkward silence fell between them for a long moment and they slowed further still.

"It was fun," Nodoka said after a moment as they reached the corner of her building.

"Yes, it really was," Negi said absently, smiling gently up at the sky. Nodoka glanced at him, blushed, and turned her attention to the sidewalk in front of her. Their walking pace slowed almost to a crawl.

They walked along in silence, neither one knowing what to say until they arrived at the front door of the apartment building. Nodoka typed in the code to open the door, and led the way inside. The two of them wandered over to the elevator. Negi pressed the button and they waited for an extremely awkward twenty seconds while the elevator made its way down. When the door finally slid open, they tried to step inside at the same time, but the narrow doorway forced their arms to brush together.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Negi said as he paused to allow Nodoka to go first.

"No, it's okay," she mumbled as she slipped by and moved to stand in the far corner of the elevator, holding her small purse demurely in front of her.

Negi slipped inside and stood by the panel, diagonally across from Nodoka. "Which floor was it?" he asked, glancing over at her. She looked up and he quickly looked away.

"It's the eighth floor..."

"Okay," Negi said. He pressed the button and stood back, waiting. A moment later, the doors slid shut and the elevator shuddered to life. Thirty seconds passed in awkward silence as the elevator made its slow, slow way up to the eighth floor.

"King Zed seemed to enjoy the role he played in today's event," Negi said. It was a real stretch as far as conversation topics went, but he was desperate enough to try anything.

"Mmhmm," Nodoka said, her eyes darting to Negi's for one glorious instant and then away. "I wonder if-"

Negi never found out what she was wondering about, because the elevator beeped and opened on the eighth floor. The two of them shuffled out, and Nodoka led the way down the hall. She stopped in front of a door, but Negi's heart was racing too fast for him to even think about looking at the room number, the hallway itself, or anything at all but Nodoka, blushing as she dug around in her small purse for her key.

He stood there, knowing that it was a little rude to stare at her but unable to stop himself, and then the moment was broken when she pulled the key ring out of her purse. She fumbled with it for a moment before she found the correct key, and inserted it into the keyhole. She paused for a moment, looking at her hands.

"Ah..." Negi said.

Nodoka turned around, smiling helplessly at him. "I...I love you," she said. Before Negi had time to realize what she had said, she stood up on her toes, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him on the lips. She had just started to pull away when Negi's arms went around her waist and he kissed her back, drawing a startled noise from her that was quickly smothered.

Nodoka wasn't much of a kisser; having had no practice beyond the time she had made a pactio with Negi, this was to be expected. Negi, though...Negi had honed his skills through half a decade of pactios with overzealous girls of all ages and, though he wouldn't ever admit to it, one guy. To say he was experienced in the field of kissing was like saying birds can fly or fish can swim.

They stood there together for a long, long moment, their bodies pressed together, before breaking away for air, both blushing furiously as they looked away, gasping for breath.

"I..." Negi said.

Nodoka quickly turned her attention back to her door, unlocked it, opened it and slipped inside, pushing it shut after her.

"I...I...I..." Negi mumbled as he blinked at Nodoka's door. The click of a lock startled him back to some semblance of intelligence, so he slowly turned around, pointed himself in the general direction of the elevators, and stumbled off, still trying to figure out what had just happened. 'She...she said she loves me? Really? _Me_? Nodoka-san...loves _me_? Nodoka-san _loves_ me? Wait, _Nodoka-san_...loves me...?"

He found himself out in the street without even recalling how he had gotten there, and wandered along in a daze. He had a brief recollection of running into Natsumi, Kotaoru, and a foreign woman he didn't know, and then he realized he was unlocking the door to his own place. '_Nodoka-san..._she _loves_ me, _me_...!' he thought yet again, the joyous thought leaving him grinning like an idiot as he flopped down on the couch. He broke into a fit of giggles and tossed his arm over his eyes, his leg hanging off the edge.

"Hehehe..."

"Oh? What's this? I leave you alone for a few hours and I come back to find you giggling like a schoolgirl?" Kamo said as he sauntered in from the bedroom, where he had been rearranging his panty-nest.

Negi couldn't help but grin like an idiot as he laid on the couch. "Hehe, she said she loves me!"

"And? What happened after that?" Kamo asked as he climbed up to stand on the armrest by Negi's head. "You didn't let the opportunity pass, did you? Come on, did she take you up to her room? She did, didn't she?"

Negi blinked at Kamo. "...huh?"

"Did you do drooly drooly or googly googly or fooly cooly?" Kamo asked, waggling his eyebrows. "Did she put her tongue inside?"

"...what?" Negi asked, finally drawn out of the daze he had been in since the kiss.

"You heard me," Kamo said, grinning elbow Negi. "Eh? Eh? Eeeeeh?"

"...what are you even _talking _about?"

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

Nodoka shut the door and leaned against it, not trusting her legs to hold her up. Her heart was pounding in her chest; she had just had her first date, her very first date, and it had been with Negi-kun...! Not only that, but she had told him she loved him and had actually k-k-_kissed_ him! She shivered, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside as she reached up and lightly touched her lips with the tip of her finger. A stray thought passed through her mind and she shivered again: _Negi-kun might still be on the other side of the door...!_ The thought was strangely intriguing, but when she pulled herself erect and looked out through the peephole, he was no longer there...she couldn't help but feel a little let down at the discovery. Nevertheless, the mild disappointment was enough to let her clear her head a little.

The date had been fun, but it hadn't been at all what she had expected... 'No plan ever survives first contact,' she thought absently as she looked down at the clothes she had borrowed from Asuna. She took off her shoes and walked over to the couch and sat down, trying to come to grips with reality while her heart fluttered around in her chest.

She had just been on a date...! With _Negi-kun..._!

She realized she was grinning like an idiot and shook her head to clear it. "Come on Nodoka, get a grip!" she said aloud, clenching her fists to prove her resolve. Feeling significantly more down to Earth, she stood up from the couch, leaving her small handbag behind, and drifted over to the closet to get a change of clothes that actually fit. 'I will have to wash these and return them to Asuna-san soon...' she thought absently as she removed the chair from under the doorknob without even thinking about why it was there and pulled the door open to reveal Yue, curled up in the corner with an old coat draped over her head, pouting at her.

Nodoka froze in the middle of reaching out for a nightshirt and her eyes widened as she realized that she had utterly forgotten about her long time friend. "Ah...ah! Yue!"

Yue gave her a petulant stare. "You forgot about me."

"Ah! I'm sorry Yue!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Sorry for the delay on this chapter, but that's how things go sometimes. Anyway, this marks the end of the 2009 Mahorafest; next chapter: The Youkai Festival! Don't worry; that festival's only one chapter. Enjoy!


	17. Ch 14 Youkai Festival

**Still Waters 3 Book 2, Chapter 14: The Youkai Festival**

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><p><em>Monday, June 29th, 2009<em>

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><p><em>Language Warning, especially at the end<em>

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><p>"So what can I expect at this youkai festival?" Natsumi asked as she gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror. She wasn't quite satisfied with what she saw, but even she had to admit she looked cute in her shorts and top, and she had <em>just <em>the right pair of boots to go with them...

"Eh...I dunno. I guess a lot of youkai will be there," Kotarou said absently as he poked around in Natsumi's refrigerator for a moment until he pulled out a small package of pudding. "Contests and fights and stuff. Hey, you got a spoon?"

"Put that back," Natsumi said automatically as she tried to make her hair look more like the way Ayaka had shown her. She wanted Kotarou to think she was pretty. 'Pretty' had always been hard for Natsumi...the most she usually managed was 'cute'. She finished arranging it and cocked her head to the side, biting her lip as she looked at her reflection. She saw Kotarou making his way over and smiled at him in the mirror. His reflection grinned crookedly at her, and then he was standing beside her. He glanced at his reflection, flicked his fingers through his hair, and nodded as if to say 'done'. Natsumi rolled her eyes.

'At least he put my pudding back,' she thought to herself as she eyed her reflection. She poked at her hair again, trying to get it to lay the right way, but it just kept falling back...she was jolted back to reality when Kotarou slipped his arm around her waist. "K-Kotarou-kun...!"

"It looks fine," he said, _entirely_ too close, in Natsumi's opinion. She blushed and shivered as his breath washed over the side of her face, but didn't pull away, instead putting her hand on Kotarou's.

"Are you sure...?" she asked softly, not entirely trusting herself to speak normally.

Kotarou cocked an eyebrow and made a show of inspecting her hair as if looking for parasites until she swatted him, and then stepped back, smirking. "It's good. Are you ready to go now?" Natsumi nodded, and the pair headed for the door.

* * *

><p>"Come on, get up, what are you waiting for?" Youko asked playfully as she kicked in the door of Kagami and Haru's dorm room to reveal Haru in the process of pulling a t-shirt up over her head and Kagami eating a piece of toast while playing with her tiny playdoh cat. The two girls just looked blankly at the intruder for a moment, obviously still half asleep as they prepared for school, and then Kagami scooped up the cat and put it in a box and Haru shrieked and yanked her shirt back down.<p>

"What are you _doing_?" Haru demanded, her voice unusually high while Kagami coughed in the background, choking on her toast.

Youko grinned at her. "Picking you up to go to the youkai festival, of course! Oh, heya Kagami-chan. Sorry, you can't go," Youko said as she strolled over to the other girl and smacked her hard on the back. Kagami glared at her for her trouble as she chocked down a few loose crumbs.

"Youkai festival? I can't go to something like that; I've got school today, and so do you!" Haru said as she walked over to the small table under the window where she did her homework. She grabbed the textbook lying there and shoved it into her bag.

Youko ignored her and flung open the closet. She reached in and pulled out a shirt seemingly at random and tossed it to Haru. "Come on, put that on. You'll probably want some shorts too...something easy to move in, anyway."

"I can't! We've got school today!" Haru said again, trying to move past Youko in order to return the shirt to the closet.

"Forget about school, this is gonna be a _lot _more fun!" Youko said, deftly blocking Haru as she tried to slip through.

"Look, I don't care _what_ you two do, but I'm not skipping school today," Kagami said irritably. "Both of you, out!" she said, pushing both girls toward the door. She shoved Haru through first, then Youko, and then threw a pair of shorts taken up at random after them. "Now stay out!"

Kagami slammed the door and Haru and Youko found themselves alone in the hallway.

"Huh...She's a real spitfire, isn't she?" Youko asked, grinning.

Haru just sighed and gathered up the shirt and shorts. "So where is this 'youkai festival' anyway?" she grumbled.

"Youkai festival...?" an all-too familiar voice asked.

Youko and Haru turned to see their mutual friend Suzuki Keiko standing in the doorway of the dorm room she shared with their classmate Mako Sylvester. Ever since Haru had used her power to save Keiko's life during the vampire incident, the other girl had stuck around her constantly, badgering her for information on youkai and magic, a problem that had only grown worse after Youko had all but kidnapped Haru in order to properly train her in the ways a youkai was supposed to behave and how to control her power, something in which Haru had absolutely no experience; she had never used her power, but rather had kept it smothered for as long as she could; all the better to hide, since her family situation had led to her getting moved from place to place all through her childhood. Keiko simply wouldn't be left behind, so Youko had agreed to let her tag along for as long as she could keep up; Haru could have told Youko that was a mistake, but the fox youkai wouldn't listen. To make a long story short, Keiko had impressed Youko with her tenacity and intelligence, and so Youko had agreed to let Keiko participate, or at the very least follow along, during Haru's training. Already Keiko's quick mind was showing; she was far more well-versed in youkai lore and society and how to deal with them than the vast, vast majority of humans, even among those who dealt with youkai on a regular basis.

Haru rubbed her forehead; she felt a migraine coming on.

* * *

><p>Natsumi and Kotarou walked along, followed a fair distance behind by the strange woman they had met the day before.<p>

Kotarou sighed. "Does she _have_ to come with us?" he grumbled.

Natsumi grinned up at him. "Mm-hmm!"

Kotarou sighed again and, a sudden devilish thought darting through his mind, took his hand out of his pocket and grabbed Natsumi's. She looked up at him, blushing, and then away. Kotarou couldn't help but smile down at her before he glanced back at the woman who had been trying to kill him only the day before, Linda Cale, and smirked. The woman gave him a level glare, and he turned away, satisfied.

"What's this going to be like?" Natsumi asked a moment later as they walked along.

"Oh, you'll see lots of youkai; there'll be lots of contests and stuff and a big bonfire every night until they decide the festival's over. We can see the coming of age ceremony too, if you want," he said idly.

"What does that involve?" Natsumi asked, swinging the hand Kotarou was holding as she walked.

Kotarou grinned crookedly. "Mostly a bunch of young youkai sitting around while the steward makes a speech."

"Steward?" Natsumi asked, glancing up at him.

"Yeah," Kotarou replied as they walked along. "He's an old youkai from back in the day. Pretty strong, from what I've heard."

Natsumi couldn't help but smile at that. 'Trust Kotarou-kun to find out how strong he is before anything else,' she thought. "Have you ever met him?"

Kotarou gave her a strange look. "The steward of the youkai? The guy who takes over in between youkai kings? Nah, I've never even _seen_ him," he said, shaking his head. "It's pretty rare that he comes out for something like this. I'd bet most youkai wouldn't know 'im if they saw him; everybody knows _about_ him though..."

The two of them walked along in silence for a while, still holding hands, followed at a distance by the white haired woman.

* * *

><p>"Hey, is it alright for Keiko to be here?" Haru asked.<p>

Keiko looked at her.

"What? Yeah, sure. Why not?" Youko asked.

Keiko turned her attention to Youko.

"Well..." Haru said, trailing off as they approached the boundary that kept most normal humans out of the youkai festival grounds.

Youko smiled brightly at the few youkai standing guard at the entrance to the festival grounds. "Don't worry about it; it's not a problem."

Haru looked up at the guards as the trio approached the entrance. 'They're huge...!' she thought fearfully. And they were; she thought they were easily the same size as Scary Max-sensei. And then the three of them were past, and the guards turned their attention to the next group. She heard Keiko let out a sigh of relief behind her and turned to give her a serious look. "Stick with us, Keiko-chan! This place is dangerous; I wish you hadn't wanted to come..."

"It's fine," Keiko said as she clung to the backpack she had carried along. "I'm prepared for this; _you _should be careful," she said, her tone more solemn than Haru could recall ever hearing it.

"She's right, you know," Youko said cheerfully as she looked at everyone and everything, seemingly trying to take it all in at once. "This is a dangerous place; I know I taught you a lot about youkai, but you still need to be careful...I don't want you getting challenged to a duel because you did something stupid. Duels should be over important stuff."

Haru looked from Youko to Keiko and back, a little concerned. "...what do you mean?"

Keiko and Youko looked at each other, and then back at Haru. "Just be careful, please," Keiko said.

Youko nodded. "Just stick with me and you'll be fine. Now come on! I want to see what everyone's been up to since I got in trouble!"

* * *

><p>Natsumi looked around, deeply interested. Youkai were everywhere; she didn't know what she had expected, but this...this definitely hadn't been it. Almost all of the youkai looked like human beings with animal ears and sometimes a tail poking out from under a shirt or skirt; some had patches of fur or feathers instead of hair, while others had long claws rather than fingernails. Noticeably large canines, almost fangs, were common, poking out between the lips. Almost all had animal ears poking up from the top of their heads. She noticed Kotarou tended to roll his eyes at those displaying such features, however, and couldn't help but compare the strangers' appearances to his.<p>

The only physical clue that Kotarou wasn't a human were his ears, which he had long ago learned to hide. He seemed to wear his humanity with a kind of smirking pride that left her wondering if he was, in spite of the lack of fangs, claws, and other animalistic features, showing off by showing that he didn't need to show such things to show off. Somehow, it was just so _him_ that it made her smile as she walked along, hand in hand with him. The fact that most of the youkai in their way took one look and quickly moved out of the way only enhanced the effect; she was almost giggling like a schoolgirl by the time trouble struck.

"Hey, you no good mangy lapdog, what the hell're you doin' bringin' a _human_ here?"

Natsumi felt the muscles in Kotarou's arm go tense and let go of his hand to give him space to move in. No longer one to stand back and let someone else do all the hard work, Natsumi moved behind Kotarou, standing back to back as she quickly scanned the crowd of youkai, trying to see if any might be waiting for a chance to attack from behind. She needn't have bothered; though there were several who obviously sneered at the idea of someone bringing a mere human to their festival, there was very little aggression present...rather, curiosity and a little fear, when they realized what was happening...it wasn't at all what she had expected after the stories she had heard over the years.

"Natsumi, I want you to stay back," Kotarou said, his voice low and cold.

"Okay," she replied.

"D-don't worry, I'll make sure she's safe," a vendor said nervously, motioning for Natsumi to come to his stall, where she could hide behind a short wall if necessary. She caught several whispers along the lines of "It's _him_!" and "I want to see!" as she stepped back out of the way.

Now that a space had been created, she could see the first speaker clearly, and no wonder: he was _huge_. He was at least seven feet tall, sporting a huge mane, tail, fangs, claws...the whole works. He sneered at her and opened his mouth to speak.

"Shut up," Kotarou said. Natsumi was surprised to see he didn't need to make any threats; he simply spoke, and something in his voice, something dangerous and, she thought with a thrill, _wild_, sent many of the youkai present cowering back. Even the big one who had insulted Kotarou cringed back for a moment. He looked around, saw the other youkai around him looking at him, and bared his teeth, letting out a low growl as he glared at Kotarou.

"You stinking little-"

"I said shut up," Kotarou said, not even bothering to raise his voice.

"You'd better listen to him," another youkai, evidently one of the big guy's friends, said. "Don't you know? He's the one that-"

"I don't care care _who_ he is! I'm gonna rip up his scraggly mangy hide and feed it to the _rats_!" he bellowed, all full of wounded pride with a raging undercurrent of fear pushing him onward.

Natsumi watched the big guy, all big muscle and sinew, stalk toward Kotarou, looking thin and handsome in his jeans and black jacket, ready to jump in and help Kotarou if it looked necessary.

It wasn't necessary.

Kotarou was standing there one instant and the next, he was standing behind the big youkai, his hands in his pockets and looking rather irritated, while the big guy stood in place, his eyes wide and unseeing, before collapsing to his knees, spitting out a spatter of blood as he clutched at his stomach, and falling over onto his side.

Kotarou strolled toward Natsumi, his hands in his pockets, and looked down at her, his expression closed off, almost, Natsumi thought, as if he was worried she would be afraid of him. _Her!_ Afraid of _him_! She smiled gently at him, pleased at the brief look of surprise that flitted over his face and was hidden again in an instant, and slipped her arm through his. Kotarou grinned crookedly at her, clearly relieved that she hadn't run off screaming, and the two of them walked on.

* * *

><p>"Aaaahhh~ this feels good," Youko said, holding her arms above her head and puffing her chest out as she arched her back, stretching. Haru glanced back at the silvery-white fox ears that had popped up on Youko's head.<p>

"How do you do that?" Haru asked.

Youko glanced at her, smiling brightly. "Hmm? Do what?"

"The ears," Keiko said, peering at the fore-mentioned anatomical structures.

"Oh," Youko said, waving her hand as if to say it was no big deal. "It's something all youkai can do."

"Oh..." Haru said, looking at Youko's tail. It was big and fluffy...she kind of wanted to touch it. "Same with the tail?" she asked.

Youko looked at her, hesitated and, Keiko thought, started to blush before quickly turning around. "Yep, same with the tail. Hey, let's go see the-"

"If all youkai can do it," Keiko said thoughtfully, interrupting Youko mid-sentence, "then what about you?" she asked, turning to Haru.

Haru's eyes widened and she held up her hands. "Hey, wait a minute, what do you mean?" she said, looking from Keiko's expression of scientific curiosity to Youko's suddenly sly grin and back.

"Yeah, that's right," Youko said. "I haven't seen your ears or tail at all. Come on, show 'em," she said, advancing on Haru as her grin widened. "All the girls do, see? Come on, show your tail, let it be free!" she said, leaping at Haru.

Haru narrowly slipped aside and zipped around behind Keiko, using her as a shield. "N-no! Besides, I don't know how!"

Youko paused in her attempt to to grab Haru, blinking. "...huh; I guess that'd be true. Okay then!" she said, standing up straight and pointing at Haru. "You need to practice! C'mere," she said, taking Keiko and Haru's hands as she looked around. "Okay, let's go over there."

* * *

><p>Safely behind a storage building, Youko stood facing Haru while Keiko watched on from the side. "Okay! You're a youkai, but you've never-"<p>

"Quarter youkai," Haru said sulkily.

"Doesn't matter," Youko said. "You're a youkai, so you can do it! C'mon, you've got ears, right? Just pop 'em out!"

Haru looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "What do you mean 'pop 'em out'? I don't know if I even _have_ 'em!"

"Oh come on, of course you do," Youko said, as if there was no question whatsoever. "You've got power, therefore you have _ears_." The way she said it made it seem as if she was lecturing an idiot, and Haru bristled. "They're right there on top of your head, so just...pop 'em out."

Haru scowled, but closed her eyes and concentrated. Perhaps five seconds passed before she spoke.

"This is stupid."

"No it's not, it's important!" Youko said. "Now come on, concentrate! Once you do it the first time, it'll be easy."

Haru sighed and furrowed her brow in concentration. 'Come on Haru, let's get this over with. Concentrate, concentrate...come on ears. Ears, ears, ears...' She shut her eyes as tight as they could go, clenched her jaw, and concentrated as hard as she could. 'Ears...ears...ears...ears...ears...'

'..._what exactly are you trying to do_?' the other Haru asked in Haru's head.

'Quiet you,' Haru replied. 'I'm trying to make my ears pop out. Come on, ears. Ears...ears...ears...ears...'

The other Haru snorted in amusement and performed the mental equivalent of rolling over on her back. '_Oh be quiet; I'm trying to sleep here_.'

'No, _you_ be quiet,' Haru thought. 'I'm actually trying to _do_ something here. Ears...ears...ears...'

'_Oh for blood's sake_,' the other Haru said. '_**I'll**__ do it_.'

When it happened, it wasn't anything like Haru had imagined. A little bit of pressure grew in her head as if she had climbed up a tall hill, followed by the sensation of something popping up through her hair, and suddenly her sense of hearing was greatly magnified. She was so startled she jerked back half a step and tripped over her own feet.

Youko pulled her back up one-handed, grinning hugely all the while.

Haru looked from Youko to Keiko and back as she dusted off the back of her shorts. "Did it work?"

Keiko abruptly looked away, an unfamiliar expression on her face.

"It worked, didn't it? Is something wrong? There's something wrong, isn't there?" Haru asked, gently probing the new ears on top of her head. She was surprised to discover just how sensitive they were to the touch; they twitched away from her fingers as if they had a mind of their own.

"Snrk!"

Haru glared at Youko, who was trying and failing to hold back laughter. "What? What's so funny?"

Youko took one look at her face, looked up at her ears, and burst out laughing. "Oh wow! Ha! Hey Keiko, you ever see anything like that? It's great!"

Haru turned her attention to Keiko, who was desperately trying to hide her laughter by turning away and clapping her hands over her mouth. "What's wrong with them? What is it?"

"Oh all right," Youko said, reaching up to flick one of Haru's ears. "They're _huge_."

Haru blinked as she tried to cover her ears with her hands to protect them from Youko. "...what?"

Youko smiled brightly at her. "Your ears. They're really, _really_ big."

"...really?" Haru asked. "Is that bad...?" she asked, trying to push them down.

Youko burst into laughter again, prompting another glare from Haru. When she recovered, she went on. "No, it's actually really good. See, you know what human boys like?" she asked, gesturing from her own, rather ample chest to Haru's near-flat example.

Haru stiffened, feeling rather offended, but nodded. "Yes..."

"Well," Youko said, grinning hugely. "It's the same with youkai boys and _that_," she said, pointing at Haru's ears.

Haru just gaped at her for a moment before rushing over to the side of the storage building to look at her reflection in one of the dirty windows. Her ears really _were _big...bigger than Youko's, even; they were easily ten inches from their wide base to their narrow tips. She had never even _considered_ such a thing before...she heard the other Haru laughing in her head, and scowled.

"Oh come on, it's not _that_ bad; you'll just have to beat the boys off with a stick," Youko said, grinning hugely. Haru rolled her eyes, but Youko interrupted her before she could speak. "It's probably for the best that you don't bring out your tail; judging by those ears of yours, your tail'd probably drive _everybody_ crazy!" Youko said, devolving into a fit of laughter that almost had her rolling on the ground.

Haru rolled her eyes again and sighed, her ears twitching.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is the way you should do this?"<p>

Masashi stiffened as he checked his hair one last time in a small hand mirror and whirled to face the other youkai. "I don't want to hear _anything _like_ that_ from someone who couldn't even beat a _human_ in a fight," he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

Rex shrugged, clearly unimpressed. "Just saying, is all. And besides, that wasn't a fight; it was a regulated tournament match; a _match_. You know, where they have rules?" he said, cocking an eyebrow and looking at Masashi as if he was an idiot. "In a real fight, it would've been over in two seconds."

"Tch." Masashi huffed as he checked his reflection again and made sure his ceremonial outfit was perfect. "Just be ready in case something happens," he said, taking up the two ceremonial items, the mirror that he had stolen from the Silver Fox tribe's storage building and the long, curved, jewel-encrusted sword that he had stolen from the Shinmeiryu in Kyoto just days before. The mirror was the sacred Yata no Kagami, the so-called 'Eight Hand Mirror', once belonging to Amaterasu herself, and long since used in the ceremony by which a youkai was crowned king, a ritual the humans of Japan had shamelessly copied using their own pale imitations of the real thing. The sword was the equally sacred Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi, the 'Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven', though the uninitiated had taken to calling it the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the 'Grass Cutting Sword', sometimes shortened further still to 'Grasscutter'. At least...he thought it was. Thus far, he had used the Yata no Kagami to travel between Mundus Magicus and Mundus Vetus quite often; the mirror was overflowing with power, all but glowing with some mysterious inner light that left no doubt in the mind of anyone who saw it as to what it truly was. The sword, however...

No matter what Masashi tried, the sword refused to respond. He had searched far and wide for instructions on its use, but such information was jealously guarded by Rydan Draos, the current Steward of the Youkai in Absence of the King; the youkai was a legend in his own time, and Masashi referred to him by his full title even in his own thoughts. He pulled the sword from its sheath and again inspected the blade. While he was no swordsmith, he thought it was a beautiful weapon; he had no doubt that such a treasure was far, far beyond the skill any mere _human_ smith...the very thought was appalling. It was the most regal of the swords secreted away in the secret inner armory hidden deep underground in the very center of the Shinmeiryu complex in Kyoto, where it had been placed after the death of the last Youkai King centuries ago. He kept telling himself he had no doubt it was the real thing: a sword fit for a king, _the_ king. And he would learn to use it, too; he had been practicing, and had already mastered the swings and thrusts required to use such a blade...all that remained was learning how to use it's hidden powers as the Youkai King.

He had killed for this blade, and he would have no problem killing again.

The only thing missing was, of course, the Yasakani no Magatama, a jewel no doubt of supreme beauty, the last of the three sacred relics that any prospective Youkai King must gather to be deemed worthy of the title, though any youkai holding at least one of the relics could formally announce his intentions, as Masashi planned to do today at this, the most sacred of festivals for the youkai. As for the jewel, it had last been seen in the possession of the last Youkai King, that bitch Youko's mother, back before her death; its current whereabouts were unknown, though some suggested that it had been hidden away, perhaps with the sword. Masashi didn't know for sure, but he sure hadn't seen anything like the jewel when he had been raiding the Shinmeiryu's secret vaults. Of course, there hadn't been much time to check...he didn't care to think about how close he had been to death at the hands of the Aoyama sisters, the two most highly skilled members of that order, outstripping even the leader Eishun Konoe and his daughter.

He shook his head to clear it and quickly checked his reflection again, taking care to straighten a few hairs that had fallen out of place.

"If you're done making sure you look pretty, it's time to go see your supporters," Rex said dryly; he tossed back a plastic cup full of room temperature sake and promptly wrinkled his nose at the taste. "This shit is _weak_,' he said.

Masashi performed an elaborate shrug, turning this way and that as he checked his clothing one final time in the mirror that he had had set up for just this purpose. "That is the most you can expect of human efforts, I suppose. Come; we have a proclamation to make. And be sure to look suitably imposing, will you? I have no wish to fight the unwashed hordes while they try to steal my relics," he said, using the Yata no Kagami itself to check if his ponytail was fanning out properly.

"Yeah yeah," Rex said, picking up the long, wicked-looking sword he preferred as both a weapon and a focus object for his power. He pulled it halfway out of its sheath, checked the edge, and thrust it back in before strapping it to his back, the hilt within easy reach. He checked the load in the ancient pistol on his hip, a great magical artifact in its own right, and patted his various hidden knives and other items to ensure they remained where he could get to them in a hurry. "I'm ready; you?" he asked.

Masashi nodded slightly and moved to stand by the door. "We shouldn't keep them waiting."

* * *

><p>"Okay, I know where we're going first," Youko said, looking at the colorful folding map she had taken from an information booth.<p>

"Where's that?" Haru asked, still a bit miffed about the whole thing with her ears. Keiko walked along between Youko and Haru, trying to take everything in.

Youko held the map out so Haru and Keiko could see. "See? Up here at this big fountain."

Haru peered at the writing. "What, 'Power Testing Center'...? What's that for?" she asked.

Youko cocked an eyebrow. "That'd be _testing_ your _power_, hence 'Power Testing Center'." Haru glared at her, and she grinned in response. "Come on, it won't be _that_ bad. It's something that needs to be done, anyway; you won't find any adult youkai who hasn't had their power tested."

Haru bit her lip as she looked down at the map. "Is that alright...? I mean, I'm not _really_ a youkai, I'm only a quarter-"

"It's fine," Youko said, waving off her protests. "Besides, it's really close. We just go this way..." she said, leading the way.

* * *

><p>Haru followed along, aggravated but curious, as Youko led the way out to the large fountain. Haru's eyes widened as she took in all the youkai walking around. It took her a moment to realize that the vast majority of them were really quite young; most seemed to be her own age. There were only a few adults present.<p>

When Haru finally tore her attention away and turned back to her friends, she realized Youko and Keiko were both just standing there, looking around as if searching for something.

"I think that is the line...?" Keiko said hesitantly.

Youko and Haru looked where she was pointing; sure enough, an extremely sloppy line was slowly moving forward.

"Nevon Bayle of the Gold Fox Tribe!" an amplified voice shouted. "Three Hundred Forty Five!"

Haru looked around in confusion as a chorus of "Ooh!" and "Ah!" broke out among the youkai standing around. She turned to Youko, and was a little surprised to see her smiling slightly, her eyes seeming to stare at something far, far away. "What was that?" she asked.

Youko turned her attention back to the present and looked at her. "Power testing. That Nevon kid from the Gold Fox Tribe's a three forty-five; that's actually really good...now come on, let's get you in line."

Haru didn't protest as Youko shoved her into the line. A moment later, someone handed her a piece of paper and a pencil. "What's this for...?" she asked, looking around for Youko and Keiko, who were nowhere to be found. "Youko? Keiko...?"

The cat girl with the bright smile standing in line in front of her turned around to look at her and lit up. "It's for where you write your information!" she said, holding hers up for Haru to see. "See? You put your name here, and your tribe here, and your sponsor here. See?" she asked again.

Haru looked at the girl's paper. It took her a moment to decipher the cat girl's sloppy handwriting, but she puzzled it out easily enough. "'Name: Yagi Ryoko, Affiliation: Cat Tribe, Sponsor: Yagi Kichirou, my big brother'," she read aloud. "Huh..."

The girl cocked her head to the side curiously, still smiling brightly. "You look confused...?"

"Well..." Haru said absently, looking around for Youko and Keiko as the line inched forward, the same amplified voice announcing names, tribes, and power levels. She frowned when she couldn't spot either one of them.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem nice, like Kichirou-nii, and your ears are really really big and pretty; I don't want you to be feeling bad..." the cat girl said, obviously concerned. "Do you need some water?"

Haru shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. Um...what if I don't have a...a tribe? Or a sponsor?"

Ryoko's eyes went huge, and Haru thought for a moment she had somehow insulted the girl. "Oh! You're a stray!" she said, as if that explained everything.

"...a stray?" Haru asked. She couldn't help but feel a little offended by the terminology. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Ryoko said as pleasantly at ever, "it means you don't have a tribe! It makes things harder later on, but for now it doesn't matter," she said, nodding to herself. "You really need a sponsor though; who brought you here?"

Haru blinked at the cat girl staring back at her, utterly guileless. "Um...her name's Youko; Miyoshi Youko."

"Okay! Then write her name there," Ryoko said, pointing. "And put 'un a fill ee ayted' there."

By the time Haru finished filling out her paperwork, the line had moved quite far and she found herself and Ryoko standing near the stage, a wooden structure six feet tall which had been built next to a line of trees; an awning had been stretched above it to keep the summer sun off, and from what she could see, there were five testing stations, each consisting of a raised podium with a blueish white ball of some sort placed on top; she watched as the next group moved to their places and waited for the tester, a familiar woman with long black hair whom Haru had seen around Mahora, to give the go ahead.

"Begin the test," the long haired woman said, and the five young youkai standing on the stage placed their hands on the balls, which promptly lit up, some glowing more brightly than others. Another woman standing at the head of the line let the next five in to wait beside the stage and the line moved forward again. The tester announced the highest power level of the group, and then sent them down the steps on the far side of the stage where, Haru could see, a lot of older youkai stood, no doubt to pick up their children after testing.

Things went smoothly for perhaps fifteen minutes before a sudden shout startled Haru back to reality from the sleepy daze she had let herself drift into.

"Aah!" Ryoko let out a startled gasp; Haru gave her a confused look before realizing Ryoko had probably been dozing on her feet as well. A murmur ran through the crowd as one of the young youkai at the far end of the stage began shouting angrily. The woman who had been standing at the head of the line told the next group to stay where they were, and climbed up onto the stage.

Haru craned her neck to see what was going on, and spotted the tester, still smiling, trying to calm down an outraged young youkai. She couldn't hear what the tester was saying, but the youkai's voice cut sharply through the murmuring of the crowds.

"I don't care! This isn't right! There's no way I'm only a hundred and five! First you say that bastard Nevon Bayle's a three forty five, and now _this_? You're lying...! How dare you lie about me? Don't you know whom I am? I'm going to get my father to punish you!"

Haru frowned. 'What a _brat_...!' she thought in disgust. 'And trying to use his dad as a threat...'

The young youkai had continued. "And besides, you're just a filthy human anyway; I bet you just don't like—eep!" He yelped as a _very_ angry black haired woman with a sideways ponytail appeared directly in front of him, a hand on the hilt of her sword.

Haru blinked. One moment, the woman had been on this end of the stage, and then the young youkai had insulted the tester...oh. Oh! The young youkai quickly backed off at the sudden threat of death by dismemberment, and the sword woman was about to return to her position at the head of the line when the tester held up her microphone.

"Since our integrity and equipment has been called into question, please allow us a moment to perform a test run!" she said. Then, turning to the sword woman, "Secchan?"

The sword woman sighed and nodded, and headed for the first testing station. Haru blinked, surprised, as the tester announced the results. "Sakurazaki Setsuna, Crow Tribe, one thousand six hundred twenty five!"

"Oooh!" Ryoko said in glee as an awed murmuring ran over the crowd, her eyes glittering. "That's so _high_...! Sakurazaki-sama is amazing, right, right?" she asked, turning back to Haru, who nodded, dumbstruck. Setsuna's level, confirmed by all five testing stations, was far, far above even Nevon's level, which had been the highest she had heard announced thus far.

With the angry young youkai dealt with and the exactness of the testing stations confirmed, things ran smoothly again for another ten minutes before the five young youkai in front of Haru were called up on stage. "Good luck!" she said to Ryoko, who turned around and gave her a bright grin and a peace sign before standing in front of her testing station. A moment later, the results were in.

"Yagi Ryoko, Cat Tribe, Six hundred twenty five!" the tester said excitedly. Ryoko just stood there, stunned, and had to be led off of the stage to the other side, where another cat youkai, evidently her brother, stood on a pair of crutches, waiting for her.

When it was finally time for Haru's group to go forward, the sword woman smiled at her.

"Good luck Endo-san."

Haru turned to look at her, eyes wide, but the four youkai behind her gave her impatient looks and she moved up onto the stage and went to the far testing station, where she stood, waiting. She shot a quick glance out over the crowd, but didn't see Youko or Keiko anywhere...it was a little nerve-wracking.

"Is everyone ready?" the tester, Haru recalled her name was Konoe...something, asked. Everyone nodded. "Start!"

Haru peered at the ball for a moment and hesitantly reached out. She paused when she felt the power pouring off of it, almost like static electricity, and shot a quick look at the other test takers, all of whom had their hands on the ball in front of them. Haru looked back at the ball, tried to ignore the nervousness she was feeling, and put both hands on it. She immediately received a jolt and almost jerked away, but it didn't repeat.

The ball was quite strange, Haru decided. It was full of power, for one thing, power she could feel probing throughout her body as she touched it, but...it was growing uncomfortably warm and bright under her hands. The crowd started to murmur again, but Haru barely heard them; the ball had moved past uncomfortably warm and straight into hot. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, and shot a frantic glance at the other youkai being tested, none of whom appeared to be feeling the slightest discomfort. Haru was really sweating by this point. She looked at the tester helplessly, but she was looking at one of the other youkai. The heat finally grew unbearable and Haru began to whimper.

"Look out!"

The next thing she knew, someone had tackled her around the middle, throwing her over the edge of the stage and driving the air from her lungs. The person held her down flat against the ground, shielding her body with their own as an explosion rocked the stage and several youkai screamed.

"Are you okay?" a familiar voice asked.

Haru forced her eyes open to look up into the concerned face of the sword woman, Sakurazaki Setsuna. She blinked once, twice, and then shot to her feet, looking around wildly. "What happened? Was it...was it..."

"You overloaded the testing station," Setsuna said, pointing back at the smoldering wreckage of Testing Station Number One.

Haru spotted the tester, Konoe Konoka, still standing on the stage, finally releasing the magical shield she had created to protect the other four youkai being tested.

"Is she okay?" Konoka asked.

"She's fine," Setsuna replied as she helped Haru back up on stage. She looked at the ruined testing station and back to Haru. "Those things max out at around two thousand. From what I saw, you're probably around twenty five hundred or so...congratulations, Endo-san; you're the strongest I've ever seen for one so young."

"Ah...th-thank you," Haru replied, her heart racing as her eyes met Setsuna's. There was something in the other woman's gaze...excitement at Haru's level, anticipation, possibly an urge to cross swords at some point in the future; it took Haru a moment to figure it out, but the most surprising thing was the almost complete lack of surprise in the other woman's eyes, as if she had already known how much power Haru had. Konoka announced her estimated level and Setsuna led her back down the stairs and left her there; Youko and Keiko arrived a moment later to find her still dazed.

"Are you alright?" Keiko asked, taking Haru's hand and leading her over to a bench in the shade of a large tree. "We heard that explosion...what happened?"

Haru absently wiped some dirt and twigs from the bench and collapsed on to it. "The testing station I was using exploded..." Now that the excitement had passed, the adrenalin she hadn't even been aware of was winding down and she was finally starting to realize just what had happened. Her hands were shaking and her ears were trying to lay flat on her head.

"Exploded? Are you okay?" Keiko asked, hovering over her like a concerned mother.

"So, what did they say?" Youko asked, grinning so wide and with such a wicked gleam in her eyes that all it took from Haru, even in her addled state, was one look to know the fox girl already knew _exactly _what had happened and was very pleased about it.

Haru blinked at Youko, turned from her knowing smirk to Keiko's concerned look, and let out a deep breath. "They said the testing stations could handle any rating up to two thousand..."

"And?" Youko asked, grinning.

"It shouldn't have just exploded like that," Keiko said, frowning as she pondered the event. "Not unless it was overloaded far beyond its limits..."

"Girl knows what she's talking about," Youko said, her grin widening further still.

"Sakurazaki-san said my level was probably around t-twenty five hundred," Haru said reluctantly. "I...I didn't mean to make it blow up! Am I going to be in trouble...?" she asked, eyes wide in sudden realization at what she had done as she looked frantically from Youko to Keiko and back.

Youko burst into laughter, prompting Keiko to give her a concerned look.

"It's not funny!" Haru wailed. "I don't have any money, there's no way I can pay them back for something like that!"

It took several moments for the last of Youko's guffaws to work itself out.

"Look," Youko said, slapping Haru on the shoulder when she had recovered. "They're prepared for things like that. See? They're already setting up a replacement," she said, pointing up at the stage, on which several workers were indeed adjusting a newly installed testing station.

"...oh..."

"Yeah, see? No problem. Now, on to the next one!" Youko said, grabbing Haru's hand and jerking her off the bench.

"Wha...! Wait!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, did you hear? Some kid just broke one of the power testing stations!" a young dog youkai said to his friend.<p>

Kotarou's ears twitched as he walked past the pair. He was curious; it wasn't every day that someone overloaded a power testing station, especially since it was usually just kids testing on them. Hell, it wasn't even every _year. _It might happen once every other festival, in fact...ten to twenty years apart, or evern more. He wanted to stop and ask for more information, but with Natsumi latched onto his arm...

He smirked at the thought. He _liked_ Natsumi latched onto his arm. The only thing better would be to walk with his arm around her as she cuddled into his side, but even _he_ found that idea to be a little too embarrassing in a public place like this, with so many people watching. Maybe in a mostly deserted park somewhere, or... 'Oh who am I kidding, I'm still embarrassed even showing _this_ much,' he thought, trying hard to fight back the embarrassed blush that would utterly destroy his hard earned badass reputation among the youkai. Natsumi would probably take it the wrong way too, and he didn't want that if he could help it. Natsumi was just so small and thin and cute and he liked the way she looked up at him and the way she felt walking next to him and... 'Whoa whoa, come on, calm down dogboy. This is not what you should be thinking about right now. Come on, think about that idiot you beat earlier. The one who said the word "human" like it was a swear. The one who insulted Natsumi. The one who-' He was startled out of his thoughts when Natsumi's grip on his arm shifted. His eyes shot to her face and her suddenly sharp eyes, and then back to the insane sword lady who had been following them; only an idiot would miss the way she had surreptitiously slipped forward to close most of the gap between them. She appeared to be looking straight ahead, but Kotarou had no doubt anyone who tried to sneak up on her would get four feet of solid light through the stomach.

"What is it?" Kotarou said just loudly enough for Natsumi to hear.

"Where is it?" Natsumi asked just loudly enough for Kotarou to hear as her eyes scanned the crowds.

Both of them paused and looked at each other.

"Huh?"

"What?"

They blinked at each other.

"But you-"

"I thought-"

"You first."

"You first."

"No, you."

"No, you..."

Natsumi and Kotarou stopped talking and just looked at each other for a moment.

"Now what's going-"

"Kotarou-kun, you-"

"Gah! Dammit!" Kotarou said.

"While I hate to interrupt your comedy routine, I'm afraid I must ask: Where is the danger?" Linda Cale asked in a quiet tone as she stood idly nearby, appearing to be nothing more than a bored tourist, if an odd one with her white hair and pale skin.

"What happened?" Kotarou asked.

Natsumi paused, tilting her head to the side slightly as she looked up at him. "You growled, so I thought..."

Kotarou blinked once, twice. "...huh?"

"You growled," Natsumi said again.

"I growled," Kotarou said.

Natsumi nodded.

"...huh. I was just thinking about that jerk earlier, and the way he was talking about you..." Kotarou said, trailing off and training his gaze on a nearby pebble as he became embarrassed.

Natsumi looked away too, suddenly shy. "I didn't like the way he was talking about you either..."

Linda rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh as she reached up to massage her forehead. "This is going to be a long day..."

* * *

><p>Masashi waited until the applause had died down among his small crowd of followers, his expression radiating confidence spiced with just the right amount of arrogance, as was expected of any member of the Gold Fox Tribe with his ambitions. He was a youkai who was going places, and the big Red Fox Tribe brute standing behind him and to the right, looking as dangerous as a nesting dragon, would ensure no one would try to stop him; his other bodyguards, strategically placed around the stage, were all but invisible...all the better to stab someone in the back should they try to cause trouble.<p>

"And finally I would like to extend my thanks to the Bayle family, without whose generous assistance I would never have made it this far," Masashi said, gesturing to several of the youkai standing behind him on the stage. He waited until the applause died, then stepped up to the edge of the small stage and slowly looked over his crowd of supporters, all full blooded youkai, all Gold Fox Tribe. Most were adults, many were quite powerful as youkai went, all were from large, powerful families. "I promise you," he said, his expression full of all the serious solemnity anyone could ever want in their meal ticket, "you have not made a mistake in supporting me. I _will_ take the title of King of the Youkai, I _will_ take my rightful place in history, and the Gold Fox Tribe _**will**_ be returned to its proper position at the top!"

When the lengthy applause finally died down, he thanked his supporters again and climbed down from the stage, Rex right behind him, and made his way through his supporters, taking the time to speak a few words with anyone who wanted to talk, to a small building nearby, where he paused to make sure his his hair ad clothing were still perfect. Inside, he found his real supporters, his _important_ supporters, seated around a table. One of them, the head of the Bayle family, stood up.

"Masashi."

Masashi bowed respectfully to the elder. "Elder Bayle." He looked at each of them in turn. "Elder Bruce; Elder Sayer; Elder Knell; Elder Clare. I thank you all for coming here today-"

"Drop it; we aren't that rabble out there," Elder Sayer said, not unkindly.

Masashi bowed; if the 'rabble' he had just spoken to could be considered the nobility, these could be justifiably called the elite of the elite, the _real_ holders of power among the Gold Fox Tribe. The rabble would do what these five youkai told them to do; nevertheless, it was always wise to make the plebeians love you if you wanted to be king...this was something Masashi had learned long ago. Many a powerful king had been toppled because his people didn't love him.

"Is he trustworthy?" Elder Bruce asked, looking at Rex with a measuring eye. To his credit, Rex merely raised an eyebrow and met the other youkai's stare without flinching, something even Masashi couldn't manage.

"He is trustworthy, Elder Bruce," Masashi said, a little miffed at the way the older youkai had questioned his decision. Masashi would remember; when he was king, Elder Bruce might find himself in a difficult situation, trying to explain his love for human girls, such as the one he kept at that house he secretly owned near Ariadne.

Elder Bruce gave him a measuring look, obviously unaware of the knowledge Masashi held, and nodded. "Very well."

"Come, take a seat, Masashi," Elder Bayle said, gesturing to the only empty seat at the table. "We have much to discuss before your official announcement."

Masashi bowed. "Of course." He sat down carefully, making sure his ceremonial clothing wouldn't become unduly creased as he did so. They _did_ have much to discuss before he made the official announcement before the Steward of the Youkai in the Absence of the King; Masashi's intentions were the worst-kept secret in the entire Gold Fox Tribe, and already troublemakers had started to appear. They had much to plan for...suppressing the rowdier element, removing those who would deny him, silencing others even among his own tribe who would object to Masashi announcing his intentions to become king...

"Yes, we have much to discuss indeed."

* * *

><p>"Uwhaa~aahn." Youko stretched as she yawned. Keiko stood beside her, the much shorter human girl doing her best to not attract undue attention—and widely succeeding—while they waited for Haru to exit the tent.<p>

"Does it normally take this long?" Keiko asked as she eyed the line of young youkai waiting for their turn.

Youko shrugged. "Sometimes; it depends on how hard it is to cast her fortune. She's not exactly an easy case..."

"Because she's only part youkai?" Keiko asked, looking up at Youko, who grinned brightly at her and ruffled her hair.

"That's right. The human parts tend to muddle things up; that's what my mom always told me." Youko immediately fell silent, as if realizing she had said something she hadn't wanted to.

Keiko took a moment to smooth her hair out and peered up at her. "You never talk about your m—"

"Ah! There she is! Hey Haru! _Haru!_" Youko called out, cutting off Keiko and waving her arms to get Haru's attention. Haru looked up, spotted the two of them, and waved.

A moment later Haru trotted up, looking rather puzzled as her ears twitched. Several boys nearby stared. "Hey guys..."

"So how did it go?" Youko asked. Keiko nodded energetically, or at least as energetically as Youko had ever seen her nod; it wasn't very impressive.

"Well..." Haru said, trailing off as she screwed up her face in concentration as she tried to recall everything that had happened. "The lady in the tent dropped some bones on a table, made a face, and then picked 'em up and poured some candle wax into a big bowl of water. After that she frowned again and made me drink some tea and looked at the cup, then she took out a Ouija board but nothing happened, and then she looked at the palm of my hand and her eyebrows went up like this," Haru said, using her fingers to push her eyebrows up enough to make Keiko grin.

"And what happened after that?" Youko asked, her own grin suggesting she knew something she wasn't telling.

"Well...then she asked me for my birth date, and when I gave it to her it looked like her eyes were about to pop out. Then she laid out a buncha tarot cards real fast and started flipping 'em."

"And?" Youko said, edging in closer.

"Well..." Haru said, frowning in puzzlement as she cocked her head to the side, her gaze distant as she tried to recall every detail. "She said a bunch of stuff like 'Dear Lord' and 'By my mother's eyes' and things like that. Then she looked at me like she was scared of me and gave me what she called the 'Blessing of the World', and pretty much kicked me out. Weird, huh?"

Youko's grin had widened to a ridiculous extent. "The 'Blessing of the World', huh? Nice! You did real good, Haru-chan~" she said, flinging her arms around the other girl.

Haru yelped when Youko's arms went around her; she yelped even louder when the taller girl began spinning her around, laughing. "Hey! What are you doing? Stop it!"

"Ha ha ha! This is great! Perfect!" Youko said. "Even better than I thought! It's like...it's like it's fate!" she said, finally setting Haru back on her feet. She grabbed Haru's shoulders to steady her and grinned wide. "You did real good, Haru. Come on, I'll buy us all some lunch!"

"So what does all of that mean?" Keiko asked as she eyed Youko.

Youko glanced down at her, grinning toothily. "Heh, you've just got to wait and see, Keiko-chan!"

* * *

><p>"I want you to get with the Black Fox Tribe elders and arrange a meeting later today after my speech," Masashi said to one of the Gold Fox Tribe youkai following along behind him.<p>

"Yes, Masashi-sama."

"_You_ should speak with the head of the Red Fox Tribe and see if you can sway him to my cause," he said to another. Arrange a meeting this evening if necessary, but keep in mind that I have been invited to a feast by one of the major families."

"I understand, Masashi-sama," that one said as he rushed off to do so.

"That leaves..." Masashi said to himself as he tried to recall what else needed to be done before his announcement. While he didn't put much faith into what the Black and Red Fox Tribes could do for him, he wasn't foolish enough to ignore them, not when he was planning to attempt the official abolishment of the Silver Fox Tribe... "Perhaps I should attempt to use the Cat Tribe?" he wondered aloud to Rex, who stalked along beside him.

"They'd make for useful cannon fodder at least," Rex replied without animosity; the Cat Tribe was well known among youkai to be as useless as it was numerous. There were occasional powerful cat youkai, but for the most part they were a disgraced tribe, the mere remnants of one of the first tribes, long ago fallen into ruin. The Cat Tribe had a reputation for laziness and independence that had never done it any good; individuals ran the gamut from bloodthirsty warriors to useless morons who slept in the sun all day and curled up in a corner somewhere all night. How half of them didn't manage to starve themselves to death through sheer laziness was a question Masashi had pondered from time to time before finally giving it up due to his realization that the tribe as a whole really _was_ useless. The only use for members of the cat tribe, he had decided, was as a harem.

"The dog tribe's pretty good," Rex said idly. "I've been hearing stories about this new guy that's made a name for himself the last couple a' years-"

Masashi curled his lip. Filthy dogs were no better than the Wolf Tribe, and far less organized. "No."

Rex shrugged. "The Crow Tribe?"

Masashi paused, and Rex walked along another few steps before turning around to look at him.

"The Crow Tribe..." Masashi said thoughtfully. Now the Crow Tribe, _there_ was at tribe that knew how to get things done...! Why hadn't he thought of them before? He even had one of them working for him as a bodyguard...! Of course, that had been on Rex's suggestion, but still... Swaying them to his side wouldn't be easy. They were fiercely independent, even to the point of their leader calling himself a king... preposterous, of course; the only _real_ king among youkai was the Youkai King. Nevertheless, the Crow Tribe would be a powerful ally. Now, it was just a matter of finding their representative at the festival and arranging a meeting with their so-called 'king'...

"_You_...!"

Masashi's mind instantly shot back to the present, already growling as he realized who had just spoken. "_Youko_...!" he snarled.

There, not ten feet away, stood Miyoshi Youko, arrogantly called Youko Ninetales though she had at most three, the one youkai he hated above all others, the daughter of the former Youkai King who had died centuries ago, the one who had a claim on the position he alone deserved...! "I'll kill you!" he snarled as he jumped at her.

Youko moved to meet him but a look of surprise flickered across her face and then something slammed into Masashi's side. The next thing he knew, he was lying against a tree, shaking his head to clear it. 'What...?' he wondered as he looked over toward the path where he had been standing, twenty feet away. He gaped. Rex was holding a young youkai girl—no, not a youkai, a filthy _hanyou, _a half-youkai though she had truly magnificent ears_—_up in the air by the back of her neck while she flailed around, trying to hit him and failing miserably due to her shorter reach.

"Put me down!" the filthy hanyou wailed.

Youko looked over at Masashi. "Tell your hired goon to back off," she snapped.

Masashi took his time climbing to his feet and removing the grass and other debris from his ceremonial clothing before he deigned to turn his attention back to Rex and the girl, who had apparently settled for crossing her arms and scowling at him as she hung in the air. He nodded to Rex, who promptly dropped the girl, who squawked as she hit the road on her butt.

"Hello _Masashi_," Youko almost spat the name as he approached the roadside. The filthy hanyou girl had already stood up and was glaring at him, but seemed content to hide behind Youko.

"_Youko_," Masashi replied, sneering.

"Nice dress; I'm sure it would have been all the rage among the geishas a hundred years ago," Youko replied.

Masashi bit his tongue to keep from snarling again. How dare she insult his ceremonial robes...! But there was no point in trading barbs with the bitch standing before him; he knew well she could go on for hours. "Get out of my way," he growled.

Youko's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Oh my! I am so, _so_, **so **sorry, I didn't realize it was king panties-in-a-twist himself! By all means, we will move out of your way, oh lord of shit and king of all that crawls in the sewers!" she said in mock solemnity, accompanied by a sweeping bow that left his eyebrow twitching.

Masashi snarled at her again; he couldn't help it. Youko had always been infuriating; it was why he had gone through the trouble of framing her for various crimes in Kyoto and gotten her locked away to rot in jail for a few centuries. He grinned nastily to himself. "I can see your time in that cell hasn't helped your humility, though you _do _seem content to hang around with the, how should I say, _lower _sort of alley dweller," he said, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at her, sparing a disdainful glance at the filthy hanyou standing beside her and the short girl—

Wait. Wait just a minute.

He sneered in disgust at the _thing_ he saw hiding behind Youko.

Oh _hell_ no.

He turned back to Youko. "Why," he asked, his voice carefully level, "did you bring a _human_ to _our_ sacred festival?" he said, his gaze meeting Youko's. This went beyond petty insults, beyond mere mockery; this was _important_.

Youko's expression changed and he had to fight back a sudden urge to run. In an instant, her expression had gone hard and distant and somehow regal, an expression he remembered seeing on the face of her mother, the most recent Youkai King, centuries ago when he was still a kid himself. He had seen it once before; the recipient had left the area minus an arm.

"A human? I see a friend," Youko replied as she put her arm around the short human girl's shoulders, something in her voice sending shivers down Masashi's spine. No matter what he might say aloud, Youko definitely had the makings of a ruler, and though he hid it and hid it well, it terrified him.

He turned his attention on to the other one, the brat with the beautiful ears who had attacked him from the side; he had an idea... He fixed her with a glare and couldn't help but curl his lip in a sneer when her eyes widened and she shrunk back a little. "And you...!"

"What about her?" Youko asked, her voice deceptively calm.

Masashi shot a nervous glance at her. 'That bitch Youko...! She needs to be knocked down a few pegs, and what better way than to humiliate one of her followers?' he thought to himself. "She attacked me without provocation at our sacred festival! I am perfectly within my rights to demand satisfaction!" He glared at Haru again. "You!"

Haru looked up at him, her eyes wide. "M-me?"

"Yes, you! I challenge you to a duel!" Masashi favored her with a particularly disdainful glare. "Are you too frightened? Then bow down and swear fealty to me." He smirked as he spoke; the filthy half-breed wouldn't have the nerve to fight, not against one as great as he...! Even if she did choose to fight, he wouldn't stain his hands with such a low being; Rex would be happy to oblige.

Haru just stood there, gaping at Masashi in disbelief, then whirled to face Youko. "W-w-what do I do?!"

Youko turned that regal expression on Haru, and she flinched back. "You _did _attack him unprovoked; he has the right to challenge you to a duel. The question you _should_ be asking is this: what do you _want_ to do? Are you willing to fight to stay here with the rest of us, or do you want to become his slave for the rest of your life? The decision is yours and yours alone, Haru; take your time deciding."

Haru looked from Youko to Keiko and back over to Masashi and the youkai grouped around behind him. "I...I don't want to bow down to you," Haru said timidly. "You're...you're just a bully. I-I accept your challenge!"

Masashi grinned like the cat that ate the canary as he looked back at Youko. "Very well. However, as I am currently engaged in a _very_ important enterprise, I am afraid I must appoint a substitute to take my place." The whole time he spoke, he kept his gaze locked with Youko's. "In fact Youko, I believe you and my substitute have already met, some time ago. You were playmates, I believe. Rex?" he said, turning away from Youko's carefully schooled expression to look at his bodyguard.

Rex took a couple of steps forward to stand before Youko. He towered over her, his strong physique dwarfing her own semi-athletic figure, tall as she was. "Hello Youko; it's been a while."

Youko looked up to meet his eyes. "Hello Rex; I almost didn't recognize you...you've come a long way from that little red headed kid who always tried to steal my yukata. What are you doing with _him_? He doesn't even realize what you're really like, does he?" she asked, the corner of her mouth quirking upward.

Rex smirked back at her and shrugged. "Doesn't matter; money is money, and he's entertaining at least. Wanna fight? I think you'd put up a better one than the kid," he said, jerking his thumb back at Haru.

Youko's slight smile widened a little further. "You might be surprised...but no, it's her fight. Now come on, let's go to the dueling site. It's over by the woods to the east, right?"

"I am afraid I must-" Masashi started to say.

"Yeah. You guys ready?" Rex asked.

"Always," Youko replied, her smile widening a little more.

"I am afraid I _must be going_," Masashi said loudly, repeating himself. "Make this quick, Rex. I require your presence at my next speech."

Rex glanced back at Masashi as he turned and stalked away followed by the group of fox youkai attending him, cocked an eyebrow, and turned back to Youko. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>The dueling grounds were simply a large patch of grass cordoned off in a circle with a magic barrier put in place to keep wild youkai energies from having too large an affect on the surrounding area if a duel got out of hand.<p>

When the group arrived, several youkai were finishing the cleanup after the last duel. Haru took one look at the bloody, mangled, yet still breathing winner of the previous duel as he was carted away on a makeshift stretcher, and stuck close to Youko.

"W-what should I do?" Haru asked, her ears flattening down on her head as she clung to Youko's shirt sleeve.

Youko grinned down at her. "Well, you accepted the challenge, so you have to go through with the duel."

"But-"

"Hmm...I'd say strike first and go all out. Rex isn't someone you can take lightly," Youko said absently as she watched one of the workers in the dueling ring pick up something that looked suspiciously like an arm. "He never was."

Haru looked from the arm guy back up to Youko, her face pale. "C-can you ask him to...to go easy? I mean-"

"Nope~" Youko replied, smiling. "Just change into your animal form and have at him!" Youko paused, looking out at the fighting ring. "If you don't, he'll rip your spine out," she added as an aside.

Haru barely had time to digest that before the workers announced that they were ready for the next duel. Rex stepped right in and moved to take his place on the north end of the field and stood there waiting. The next thing she knew, Haru was being pushed into the dueling ring.

"N...no...! Youko-san! H-how could you? I'm not ready for this! I'm not ready at all! _I DON'T WANNA DIE!"_

"Then don't die, okay?" Youko said, grinning at her. "Just change into your animal form and blast him with everything you've got."

Youko gave her one last shove to get her completely into the dueling ring, and then the barrier went up, preventing anyone from entering or leaving until the duel was over.

"Nooo...!" Haru wailed.

* * *

><p>Haru stood nervously across from Rex in the dueling ring. 'OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod I don't wanna die!'<p>

_'Tch; quit being a baby,' _the other Haru said, inside Haru's head. '_It's just a fight; beat him down and be done with it.'_

'Easy for you to say,' Haru thought frantically. 'You aren't about to get pounded into paste by some big scary guy twice your size...!' She tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she looked at Rex, but it wouldn't budge.

'_Idiot,'_ the other Haru replied, and fell silent.

Haru looked from Rex to the bench set up outside for those who wanted to watch duels could sit. There were several people seated there, but she spotted Youko and Keiko easily; Keiko sat with her arms crossed, sending nervous glances up at Youko beside her. Youko, for her part, looked as if one of her friends was just going for a stroll in the park rather than a duel where she might end up maimed or even dead.

_'Don't look to them for help; this is between you and the red guy over ther,' _the other Haru said.

Haru ignored her as she looked nervously at Rex again. "S-so how do we do this?"

Rex cocked an eyebrow as if surprised she had asked such a question. "Usually we'd just go at it as soon as the barrier was in place; but since it looks like you're new to this I figured I'd give you a minute to collect yourself...'course, it's already been a minute, hasn't it?" he said, then knelt down and shifted into _something else_ and leaped at her.

'_Oh! He's amazing! Just as expected of a red fox,'_ the other Haru said inside her head.

Haru let out a tinny scream and scrambled aside as the huge red beast that had been Rex lunged at her. Easily twenty feet from nose to tail, it looked only slightly vulpine; covered in battle scars and fur the color of blood, long whips of flame crackling along its spine, it gave off a real feeling of menace, a predator in the purest sense of the word. Its teeth were razor sharp, its body long and lean, its eyes the color of blood and focused directly on _her_. It took a step forward, and she took a step back. Haru shot another frantic look at her friends, but though Keiko looked horrified, Youko just cocked an eyebrow as she looked at her as if to say 'Well? What are you going to do now?'

'_Come on you idiot, change. He won't go easy on you,' _ the other Haru said. '_I don't know about you, but I'm not quite ready to die yet.'_

**Come on, change. We can't fight like this.**

It took a moment for Haru to realize the deep voice resonating through her head belonged to the creature before her. When she did, she almost screamed again; having the other Haru in her head was one thing, but a total stranger...? That was something altogether different.

_'Change! Now_!' the other Haru said, a tinge of panic in her tone.

**Change form! NOW! **Rex demanded as he lunged forward.

Haru screamed, and transformed.

* * *

><p>Keiko had seen Haru show her other form before; she had watched her change into it, in fact. While the experience was certainly unpleasant to look at, Keiko had only ever seen it once before Rex transformed. For Rex, it was a simple, smooth, and most of all, <em>quick<em> process; when Keiko had seen Haru do it the first time, it had looked painful, or at the very least clunky and intensely unpleasant. This time, though...one instant Haru was standing there in front of a charging monster, and then she was replaced by a gigantic white-furred creature twice the size of Rex in his animal form and even though she sat on the other side of the magic-blocking barrier alongside Youko, Keiko could feel the power radiating off of Haru making the tiny hairs on her arm rise. As for what Haru had turned into...

The first thing Keiko noticed was that, this time, Haru's animal form was _different_. Whether due to Youko's training or some other factor of which Keiko was unaware, Haru's animal form had become significantly larger, more _real_, and the orange markings on her head and shoulders had expanded, gaining length and thickness and branching off where they had simply been curving lines before. Her tail had gained volume in a tremendous way as well; it hung behind her like a small cloud, whipping around like the tail of a cat as she moved, whirling to face Rex as he moved.

And, for the first time, Keiko realized Rex was hesitating.

"He~eh."

Keiko looked up at Youko and the huge grin she had on her face. For once, her eyes were open all the way in excitement, clearly showing the odd shade of blue that she normally kept hidden. Youko looked down at her, all but laughing in her enthusiasm.

"Isn't she amazing, Keiko-chan? I don't think I've ever seen anything so...so..."

Keiko knew exactly what Youko was talking about. Seeing Haru in this form, with her gleaming white fur the color of snow, the smoothness of her movement, the sensation of sheer physical _power_, not to mention the static-y sensation all over Keiko's skin caused by Haru's _other_ power leaking past even the high class barrier before her...

"...beautiful..." Keiko looked back up at Youko. "She's beautiful...she's just...beautiful," she said, unable to come up with anything more fitting for what she was feeling. In her human form, Haru was rather plain; not unattractive, nevertheless she was one of those poor girls who had to work hard just to get up to 'noticeably cute'. Far too athletic, she had no curves to speak of and probably never would; she was not one of those lucky girls for whom genetics had done much as far as physical beauty went. But this...

Keiko stared at the graceful creature before her. This...this was far and away one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen; she almost wanted to cry out in indignation when Rex finally made his move and darted around, trying to circle around and get Haru in the side.

And then, Haru got angry.

* * *

><p>'<em>You idiot! He's coming, DO SOMETHING!' <em>the other Haru screamed.

Haru watched, shocked, as Rex, barely half her size now that she had changed form, darted around and under her, ripping at her side as he went. Blood flew and Haru screamed, the sound turning into an agonized roar in her now animal jaws.

The other Haru screamed in sync with her, and went wild in her head, slamming against the bars of her cage in a manic attempt to get out and get at the thing that had hurt her.

Haru whirled on Rex, snarling, caught a glimpse of Keiko, horrified as she covered her mouth with her hands, Youko seated beside her, a carefully blank expression on her face, and something _snapped_. She took a careful step back to open some space between herself and Rex as he tried to circle around for another go. What he had done hurt; it was more painful than any injury Haru had ever had, in fact...what it wasn't, however, was crippling. It hurt _bad_. Haru...Haru was furious.

Rex realized what was coming, but even the immense burst of power he put out was obliterated by the suddenly crushing aura Haru produced. That wave of power rolled out like a tsunami, crushing everything under its weight and almost immediately filling up the space inside the barrier. Rex struggled to stay on his feet.

* * *

><p>Outside the barrier, every youkai within a quarter mile felt sick to their stomachs, and many of those nearer the barrier collapsed, unable to withstand such a concentration of power. Keiko, utterly unaffected as a human, gave a startled look at Youko when she let out a wheeze and clutched the edge of the bench with all her strength in an attempt to remain upright.<p>

"Heh...she's really strong," Youko said, her eyes wide open as she watched Haru in the dueling ring. "She's even stronger than I thought...! I can't wait to see..."

Keiko looked at the taller girl nervously as she trailed off mid-sentence, her face pale.

"Ooh, looks like you were right, Secchan."

"Urgh...yes, I thought it was her..."

Keiko turned her attention to the newcomers, the two women she saw occasionally around Mahora, more often with Negi-sensei, and most recently at the power testing area. The human woman, Keiko was fairly certain her name was Konoka or Kanaka or something like it, peered into the dueling ring with real interest.

"Oooh, look Secchan! Isn't she beautiful?"

'Secchan', however, looked quite sick to her stomach, though she still seemed better off than just about every other youkai nearby. Whether that was due to the fact that she had just arrived or the fact that she had a stronger constitution than the others was something Keiko didn't know. Something she did know, and now that Konoka and 'Secchan' had arrived, something she could _do _something about, was Youko, who was struggling fiercely in a losing battle to remain upright. "Please, stop Haru-san!" Keiko pleaded. "Youko-san and everyone...it's hurting them!"

Konoka smiled at her. "Okay! Now..." she said, turning her attention back to Haru as she screwed up her face in concentration. Keiko thought it made her look a little cute; 'Secchan' just took a seat on the bench next to Youko, already suffering badly from the effects of Haru's powerful aura. "I'd say this calls for a 'Power Dispelling Sword', wouldn't you, Secchan?" Konoka said, smiling pleasantly at her companion, who looked absolutely miserable, though not yet at the level of Youko, who had gone positively green.

"Mark two," 'Secchan' offered from her place on the bench.

"Yep! You're right again Secchan! A 'Mark Two' it is!" Konoka replied. She took a fast-draw stance Keiko recalled seeing in the Rurouni Kenshin manga she had found in the library, gave one final look at 'Secchan', who nodded, and drew the fancy katana she wore at her hip in a flash and held it high in the air, the blade pointed down.

"Secret Technique: Power Dispelling Sword Mark Two!" Konoka shouted as she thrust the sword down into the ground, burying half the blade and sending out a swirling burst of power that even Keiko, normal human that she was, could feel.

The effect was immediate: Youko let out a startled grunt and fell over, and it was all 'Secchan' could do to keep from collapsing on top of her. The magic barrier wavered and then shattered, but the youkai energy trapped inside, visible to Keiko only as a thin fog, didn't have a chance to cause any mischief; it was disrupted an instant after the barrier went down, dissipating with an iridescent burst, revealing Haru, still in her beast form, still standing on shaky legs, and Rex, still in his beast form, barely half the size of Haru, his flames guttering out, flattened out on the ground.

"Urk," Konoka said. As Konoka's companion wasn't in any condition to help her up, Keiko helped her to her feet; Konoka left the sword half-buried in the ground. "Thank you," she said, using Keiko's shoulder to steady herself. "I'm still not used to using the Mark Two," she said woozily. "I think I put too much power into it." Keiko helped her cross the short distance to 'Secchan' and Youko, both of whom had managed to gather themselves enough to at least sit up straight.

"Ugh, I hate that one," Youko said woozily. 'Secchan' nodded, apparently not trusting herself to speak.

"I'm sorry," Konoka said as she sat down beside them, clearly exhausted. "But it was necessary; the duel was getting out of hand. She watched Haru in the dueling ring as she transformed from her beast form back into her human form and staggered. Rex transformed a moment later and pushed himself up on his hands and knees. Haru took a step or two toward him to help, but hesitated. A second or two passed before she moved to close the remaining distance and helped pull him upright; Konoka nodded in approval.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Youko asked.

Konoka nodded. "Yes, she is; I don't think I've ever felt anyone stronger. Secchan? Oh," she said, turning to Keiko. "I don't think we've been properly introduced! I'm Konoe Konoka, and this is my best friend Sakurazaki Setsuna; we're both from the Shinmeiryu, and Negi-kun's former students. Nice to meet you!" she said, smiling cutely.

Keiko smiled back hesitantly. "S-Suzuki Keiko...Negi-sensei is my homeroom teacher."

Setsuna spoke up. "Nice to meet you, Suzuki-san."

"You...you can call me Keiko, if you would like to..." Keiko said shyly. She hadn't noticed it at first, but the way Setsuna and Konoka interacted was a little...well..._suspicious_. It was just a stray thought, but she thought they might be...might be...l-l-l-_lovers._..! She had to fight back a blush and the urge to fidget at the thought.

"As far as youkai go, I've never met one stronger," Setsuna said, leaning against Konoka for support, trying to hide her own blush. "She seems almost completely untrained though... She might be able to catch up with the rest of us if she can learn to control that power."

Youko grinned crookedly as she sat up a little straighter. "She has 'The Blessing of the World', you know." The way she said it led Keiko to wonder just how important such a thing might be. Setsuna's surprised expression made her wonder even more.

"Certainly a worthy ally for Negi-sensei," Setsuna muttered, clearly impressed.

"Yep!" Konoka replied as she helped Setsuna up. Keiko did the same for Youko. "Let's go make sure they're alright!"

* * *

><p>"That was a big one," Kotarou said idly as he walked along hand in hand with Natsumi.<p>

"Hmm?" Natsumi asked, looking up at Kotarou. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah; just a big fight over that way," Kotarou replied, pointing in the direction the burst of power had come from. "Pretty strong."

"Really? I didn't feel anything," Natsumi said. "Any idea what it was?"

"Eh...felt like that kid in Negi's class; what's-er-name, Haru? Yeah, something like that."

They walked along in companionable silence for a moment.

"Wait, what?!" Natsumi said, aghast.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe it; I haven't had to drop a bounty in eight years, not since that fiasco with the Crow Tribe," Morrison Blight, Black Fox Tribe bounty hunter, mercenary, and odd jobs man, said to his younger brother as the two walked along on their way to deliver the bad news to Masashi.<p>

"Ugh, don't remind me. Who'd've thought that stupid cat was under the protection of the future head of the Konoe family?" Onyx said, recalling the look in the Konoe heiress's eyes the previous day.

* * *

><p>"<em>Yagi Ryoko-chan and her brother? They asked for my help, so they're under my protection; you know?" Konoka said, her blade gleaming in the sunlight as it rested lightly against Onyx's neck, sharp enough to draw a thin red line across his skin with the slightest motion. His brother Morrison was in a similar situation with the Konoe heiress's half-crow girlfriend a few feet away. <em>

"_...I-I gotcha..." Onyx managed to say as a sweatdrop slipped down the side of his face. His gaze flickered over to where Yagi Kichirou, still trying to recover from the wounds he had received during Masashi's escape from the Shinmeiryu compound in Kyoto, cowered against a wall; the two of them had lost track of Ryoko once she had escaped from that alley earlier in the day with that human girl. The blade shifted against his throat and he cut off a yelp; it would be all too easy to cut his own throat doing something like that...literally. "I understand..."_

"_That's great!" Konoka said, smiling cutely, the razor sharp blade of her sword not wavering in the least._

* * *

><p>Onyx shivered at the memory. "You know what?"<p>

"What?" Morrison said, humoring his brother.

"I think I'd rather risk going up against that big Red Fox Tribe bruiser Masashi's got working for him than that Konoe Konoka; she's one scary chick."

Morrison nodded, and the two fell into a brooding silence as they walked along. This wouldn't end with just an apology...Masashi was a vindictive bastard; there was no way he would just let the matter drop. The entire reason he wanted the Yagi siblings brought to him was because they hadn't been able to live up to his expectations; from what little the Blight brothers had been able to dig up, the Yagi siblings and Masashi had been beaten by a bunch of human girls and captured by the Shinmeiryu. Once in custody, they had agreed to work in the compound in exchange for protection and, having lost their previous home with the murder of their master, a place to live. Naturally, Masashi had been enraged and took it out on Kichirou, who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, during his escape from his cell in the compound; Kichirou had been forced to flee to Mahora with his sister and had nearly died of his injuries before being found by mages, probably part of the local magic association. From there, the two had dropped out of sight until Onyx and Morrison, following their trail, had stumbled across evidence that they were still in the city just a few days before.

And then they had met Konoka and Setsuna for the second time since their arrival in Mahora, and this time they had _both _been deadly serious. A little bit of backstory on the Yagi siblings, and Onyx had developed a headache out of frustration; he couldn't turn them over to Masashi, not after hearing about what the two had been through. He hadn't even needed to look at Morrison to know he felt the same way. Morrison might put up a good 'cold bastard' act, but he was as soft hearted as a person could be.

"He's supposed to be making another one of those speeches or something right now, right?" Onyx asked.

"Yeah," Morrison said, scowling as he thought about how best to get his point across to the prospective youkai king.

"So, what...we're going to wait 'til he's done?"

"That's the plan."

"Huh..." Onyx said as he considered the ease with which Masashi had always won people over. "...this might get ugly."

"Yeah," Morrison said again as the stage came in sight, Masashi standing tall upon it, and for once his Red Fox Tribe bodyguard wasn't with him; instead, he stood up on the stage alone but for several official-looking stooges from the Gold Fox Tribe seated behind him, and several bodyguards positioned on the ground around the stage. He had never really noticed them before...he supposed it was a result of the fact that the Red Fox Tribe bruiser attracted so much attention just by standing there that the others just sort of...faded into the background.

The crowd was quite large; a mix of various tribes, though the majority were from the fox tribes. There were even a few half youkai and, if he wasn't mistaken, at least one human in the back. He frowned; that was strange, especially for one of _Masashi's_ speeches...the bastard hated everyone who wasn't a youkai, and Morrison was quite sure he secretly hated most of _them _as well. Masashi was the sort who thrived on hatred; it was what drove him on, kept him going when his all-important pride had been damaged.

"Damn," Onyx said softly.

"Yeah," Morrison said a third time. They would have to wait until the speech was over and the crowd was pumped up. If things went sour, it could get ugly, quick. "Come on, let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>"So, what did you think?" Kotarou asked as Masashi finished his speech and the crowd began to separate into bunches or wander off in twos and threes. He made sure to keep Natsumi's hand in his; Masashi was notoriously anti-human, as were many of those he used to fill out the crowds when local attendance was looking sparse.<p>

"...he makes me feel a little nervous," Natsumi said.

Kotarou raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. While he had known her for years, he couldn't recall ever hearing her actually say such a thing. She worried all the time, usually about what Kotarou thought were stupid, ridiculous things, but the way she had said it was different.

"I agree."

He sighed as he glanced over at Linda Cale, who stood against a wall nearby. The strange woman had an irritating habit of being _right there_ when you least expected it; he supposed he would get used to it eventually...it kept him on his toes, anyway. "You too, huh?" Kotarou said for lack of anything better.

Linda nodded. "A charismatic young leader looking to build a reputation and a rabid following of moronic zealots devoted to the idea that they alone are worthy of standing on the top of the heap...need I go on? It would be best to just assassinate him and get it over with."

Kotarou gaped at the woman's casual suggestion of cold blooded murder. He hadn't known her long and, looking back on how they met, he probably shouldn't have been surprised, but still...whoa.

"We will _not_ be assassinating _anyone_," Natsumi said, doing her best to glare at Linda. It came across as a sort of determined pout; Kotarou thought it was cute. Only one person could make her _really _glare, and that Stratos bastard wasn't around at the moment.

Linda bowed her head in acknowledgment. "Of course, Murakami."

"Huh...look at those two," Kotarou said. The others looked in the direction he had indicated, where two members of the Black Fox Tribe were walking toward Masashi, who was speaking with several of his supporters with his bodyguards standing around. Everything from the stiff-backed way they were walking to the way the shorter one's hand stayed near the hilt of his sword indicated that they expected trouble; Kotarou thought they were probably right.

"It looks like they're about to pick a fight," Linda said, echoing his own thoughts.

"Yeah..." Kotarou looked at Natsumi and Linda. "Wanna kinda ease on over there and watch? Who knows, someone might need some help."

"I will follow Murakami," Linda said.

Natsumi looked from Kotarou to Linda and back to where the two fox youkai were approaching Masashi, and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

><p>"Be careful. At the first sign of trouble, blast his bodyguards," Morrison said quietly to his younger brother.<p>

"Gotcha. Why not Masashi though?"

"He won't expect it," Morrison replied as he eased his sword in its scabbard for a quicker draw. "If this turns ugly, he'll expect you to go after him since he knows I can't do anything with magic. When he takes his attention off of me, I'll gut him. But _only_ if this turns ugly, understand?"

"Yeah, gotcha," Onyx said, eyeing Masashi's supporters on one side and his three bodyguards on the other. Strangely enough, one of them was from the Crow Tribe; he hadn't known Masashi would accept anyone who wasn't part of the fox tribes. In any case, he didn't see the big one from the Red Fox Tribe, and that was definitely for the best. "What about the supporters?" Onyx asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see; they're just low ranking members of the big families. I'll take care of them if they start to cause trouble," Morrison said. They were getting close now. In fact, Masashi had spotted them, and his expression had changed to a subtle frown. "No more talking; I'll take care of this."

"Gotcha," Onyx replied as they approached.

The two of them stopped ten feet away from Masashi, looking like the common mercenaries they were in their patchwork armor and clothing, especially compared to the fine figure Masashi appeared to be, draped in his ceremonial garb, hair and clothing meticulously arranged.

"Masashi!" Morrison said, more harshly than he had intended. Two of the bodyguards stepped forward, but Masashi raised his hand and they stopped.

"Yes?" Masashi asked, his voice, tone, and expression creating a carefully practiced image of good natured curiosity belied only by the coldness in his eyes.

Masashi began to sweat. Already, with two words, the situation had been turned completely against them. And then there was that third bodyguard, the one from the Crow Tribe, who had remained in her place while the other two stepped forward. Something about her just _screamed _at him to stay out of her way; he had a feeling she was incredibly dangerous, perhaps as much as the big bruiser from the Red Fox Tribe whose inexplicable absence had made him nervous as soon as he noticed it. In any case, one thing was clear: to get out of this alive and in one piece, he would have to be very, very careful. Putting up a brave, businesslike front that he admitted to himself probably didn't fool anybody, he began.

"Masashi, I am sorry, but my brother and I must withdraw from our agreement to capture the Yagi siblings." His mouth went dry at the brief expression of absolute rage that flashed across Masashi's face, so quickly replaced by that same inquisitive look that Morrison almost doubted he had even actually seen it...almost.

"Oh? And why is that?" Masashi asked. The Crow Tribe woman made a very slight grin, and Morrison realized he was starting to fidget and took a deep breath to calm himself. It felt as if his heart was about to beat out of his chest.

Masashi took a deep breath. This wouldn't be pretty... "We have discovered that the two are under the protection of the Konoe clan."

Masashi's face went through a flurry of emotions: disbelief, rage, frustration, back to a rage more furious than before, and then finally to stubborn pride. He took a moment to collect himself, his fists clenched so tightly they went white, and turned all the ferocity he could muster in his gaze on Morrison. "You find out some human clan is protecting the Yagis, and you simply...give up? Are you truly so...so _pathetic_ as to abandon your duty because of a few _humans_?!"

"These aren't just 'a few humans'," Morrison said, butting in and cutting off Masashi before he could go off on a rant. "They are the _Konoe clan_. They run the Shinmeiryu, who specialize in killing _us_. You never told us-"

"**_SILENCE_**!" Masashi roared, his face screwed up in a rage. "You have humiliated _all _of the fox tribes...! You _do not deserve to live_! _EXECUTE THEM!_"

Morrison, desperate to survive, drew his sword, attempting to disembowel Masashi in a single smooth motion, but the Crow Tribe bodyguard was _right there_. Her own sword knocked Morrison's aside, and then he let out a cry as a blast of fire sent him flying. He hit the ground hard and rolled with it, coming up a crouch. The Crow woman had come right after him however, and he barely managed to get his sword up in time to deflect a blow that would have decapitated him with ease. Another blast of fire missed him by the tiniest of margins, and he dove to the side to put the Crow woman between him and Masashi, who quickly turned his attention to Onyx, who had, as instructed, focused on the two Fox Tribe bodyguards when the fighting broke out. The Crow woman's sword nearly gutted him, however, and he was forced to focus his attention back on her.

"You're good, but you're no match for me," she said as she shifted her stance while he scrambled to his feet.

Morrison had no doubt she was correct; his sword skills were the product of years of experience out in the field. He had never undergone any real training beyond the life or death experience one received in battle, and though it was good enough to keep him alive on the road and in any fight he had ever been a part of before this, he knew he was no swordmaster, not like this Crow Tribe woman. All he could do was hold out as long as possible and hope she made a mistake he could take advantage of. He was dimly aware of people screaming and magic flying left, right, and center, and knew others were joining in the fight; there was no telling who was on what side, or even if the newcomers understand the danger of the situation. There was no time for contemplation however; the Crow woman was after him again.

Morrison did the best he could; he blocked, parried, dodged, and did everything he could to throw the Crow woman off balance, even a last-ditch attempt to blind her with an explosion of light, all his meager skills and power in magic would allow, but it was no use and he made a mistake. Perhaps she had drawn him into overextending on his swing, perhaps he was just too exhausted by the burst of extreme violence and his attempt at magic, but he was slow drawing his blade back to a defensive position and the woman knocked it from his hand with a deft flick of her sword and sent it flying. She jabbed him in the thigh and he let out a cry, dropping to the ground as his leg would no longer support his weight, and watched in horror as she locked eyes with him and raised her sword for a decapitating blow.

The blow never fell, as a woman in white dove in front of him, holding a sword of her own, she blocked the blow and shoved the Crow woman back, off balance, and Morrison scrambled for where his sword lay in the dust ten feet away. He snatched it up and tried to stand, but let out another cry when his leg again failed to hold his weight and he went down in the dirt. The jolt of pain from his second fall kicked his brain back into gear and he looked for his brother; he spotted him a moment later, a young human woman dragging him back from from the fighting. He was beaten and bloody and his side was smoking from where some of Masashi's fire had hit him, but he was alive. Recalling who had ordered him dead, his eyes darted back and forth, trying to locate Masashi; a moment later, he did, just as a stranger from the Dog Tribe punched him _hard_ in the gut, lifting him a good three feet off the ground, and then drove a fist down into his back in a sledgehammer blow, driving him to the ground. Something about the sight made Morrison grin in spite of the burning agony in his leg.

A woman's agonized scream dragged his attention away from Masashi writhing in the dirt to the strange white haired woman who had saved his life; he gasped as the Crow woman ran her through with her sword. The pale woman spat blood all over, but grabbed the Crow woman's sword-hand before she could pull her blade out and yanked her closer, letting out a cry as she drove the sword further through her, but letting the Crow woman have it with a tremendous roundhouse blow to the chin that rocked her head back and made her stagger. The pale woman did it again and a third time, but the Crow woman blocked the next attempt, only to receive a headbutt to the face that broke her nose and left the lower half of her face a bloody mess for her troubles. She let go of the sword and staggered back, leaving her wide open, but that must have been the pale woman's limit, as she staggered back herself and collapsed to the ground, clutching at the sword sticking through her.

"_EVERYONE _**STOP**!" the shout came with a wave of power that knocked everyone who was still standing off their feet and sent those at the edges running for their lives.

Morrison looked up at the two figures descending out of the sky and couldn't help but stare. "They're...they're angels..."

Setsuna lowered herself and Konoka to the ground and quickly took in the situation. "Konoka! Injured!"

"Right!" Konoka said. "Kotarou! Restrain everyone! Natsumi and I will take care of the injured!"

"Got it!" Kotarou said as he scrambled to his feet and punched Masashi again, this time in the chin, before he could launch any fire magic at the others, and rendered him unconscious with a swift blow to the back of the head. He did it a little harder than was strictly necessary, but as far as he was concerned, the bastard deserved it after making such a scene, especially at such an important event for the youkai.

"White wings... _You_...!" the Crow woman hissed, and then launched herself at Setsuna's back. For her part, Setsuna reacted instantly, drawing her sword as she turned, and quickly flipping it when she saw her attacker was unarmed. She struck her in the side _hard_ with the back of her sword, and the Crow woman let out a cry; another strike to the head knocked her sprawling the dirt, temporarily silenced.

"What happened?" Setsuna said, suddenly standing over him, sword in hand, the feathers on her white wings rustling in the breeze.

Morrison looked up at her, tried to speak, and everything faded.

* * *

><p>"Whoa, what happened <em>here<em>?" Youko said in surprise as she surveyed the ruined speech grounds with dirt churned up and random splotches of blood and burn marks, with the injured lying in rows nearby, attended to by a handful of youkai. She quickly spotted Konoka and Setsuna nearby, talking to several others.

"This looks dangerous..." Haru said, nervous. Keiko nodded beside her, clinging to her hand.

"C'mon, let's see what's going on," Youko said as she trotted over to where the small crowd was talking.

* * *

><p>"So here I am again, finding you and your brother in the center of a fight," Konoka said, sounding disappointed after a round or two of healing magic as she looked up at Morrison Blight.<p>

He looked away, grimacing. "I just came to tell him we wouldn't go after the Yagis anymore," he said defensively. "He tried to have us killed."

Konoka looked up at him for a long, long moment, and finally nodded. "Okay, I believe you. But that doesn't mean it's okay to fight at the festival! Consider yourself to be on probation," she said firmly, shaking her finger at him. "I don't want to have to break up another fight, okay?"

Morrison looked away awkwardly. Getting dressed down by the future head of the Konoe family was one thing; getting dressed down when that future head was an incredibly cute and attractive woman was something else altogether, and, unlike Masashi, Morrison had no problems with humans. "I understand." He noticed a trio of newcomers heading in his general direction and frowned; he looked back over at Konoka. "Didn't you guys have this area locked down...?"

Konoka looked from him to the small group, and smiled. "Mmhmm! But they're okay. Remember what I said! I want you and your brother to be good!" she said, making a cutely serious expression.

"R...right..."

Konoka smiled wide at him and bounced away toward the three that had just arrived. Morrison watched her go for a moment...she knew _exactly_ how to walk; was she doing it on purpose...? He didn't know, but it made his heart race.

"Ehem," someone said nearby, clearing their throat.

Morrison jerked as he felt an icy cold glare digging into the back of his head and quickly looked away from the enchanting Konoe heiress.

"That's better," Setsuna said from behind him.

* * *

><p>"Youko-chan!" Konoka said as she bounced up and hugged Youko.<p>

"Er...eheh...hello again, Konoka," Youko said, intensely aware of Setsuna's sudden glare burrowing through into the back of her skull. Konoka _had _to be doing it on purpose...! She quickly extracted herself from Konoka's grasp and stood well back. "Yeah...I'm _really _not doing this on purpose, you know."

Konoka smiled at Keiko and Haru. "Hello again!"

"Er...hello again," Haru said.

"Nice to see you again..." Keiko said, unable to look at Konoka for more than a few seconds; she didn't know how to react to the pretty woman...Konoka shined far too brightly for her.

"Masashi claims he's innocent," Kotarou said, a sour look on his face as he trotted up. "His bodyguards and two dozen members of the fox tribes say the same thing."

A bit of the shine went out of Konoka's smile as she turned to look over at said member of the Gold Fox Tribe, fussing over his ceremonial robes while half a dozen others did their best to dust him off and make him presentable. "Is that so?"

"He also 'demands satisfaction' for something about trying to ruin his image...or something," Kotarou said, rolling his eyes. He looked at Youko, Haru, and Keiko. "Miyoshi Youko, wasn't it?" he asked, holding out his hand. His eyes drifted over to Haru's ears and he stared for a moment.

Youko smiled at him as she took his hand, drawing his attention back to her. "Inugami Kotarou; I've heard of you." She looked past him to where Natsumi was helping a rather stiff looking pale woman with white hair walk along. "Keep her safe. Masashi isn't one to forget something like that. Good luck~!" she said, waving as she turned to take Haru and Keiko's hands and lead them away.

"So that's Miyoshi Youko, huh...?" Kotarou said to himself, cocking his head to the side as he watched her go.

"Hmm~? You don't have a crush on her, do you?" Konoka said, grinning at him.

"W-what?! No! Of course not!"

"Well I should hope not; Natsumi's crazy about you, you know," Konoka said in a matter-of-fact manner as she turned to watch Youko go while Kotarou spluttered nonsensical words. 'She knows how to walk, that's for sure,' she thought, grinning, as she memorized every nuance of Youko's swaying motion to use against Setsuna later.

* * *

><p>"So where are we going now?" Haru asked as Youko led the way.<p>

"We're going to something that's pretty cool," Youko replied, picking up the pace just far enough that Keiko could still keep up without running.

"Pretty cool...?" Haru asked.

"Yep! You'll just have to wait and see~"

* * *

><p>The field she led them to was wide open, with a series of long benches in the middle, a raised platform on one end with a tarp set up as a roof, and crowds of young youkai milling around all over while older youkai, Haru assumed they were parents, stood in little bunches around the back edge of the field.<p>

"...what's this?" Haru asked, mystified.

Youko grinned at her. "Hee~ It's just a ceremony," she said, looking down at her. "Here, this number tells you where to sit," she said, handing over a slip of paper with Haru's name, sponsor, 'No Tribe', estimated power level, and what was apparently Haru's seat number printed on it. "Go on and find your seat; we'll be waiting for you," she said, glancing down at Keiko, who, much to Haru's chagrin, seemed to know _exactly_ what was going on; the girl couldn't stop grinning at her.

"Don't worry about us," Keiko said. "We'll find you when it's over!"

The two of them darted away into the crowd and Haru quickly lost sight of them as a new influx of youkai appeared, forcing her to get out of the way or get trampled. She looked down at the piece of paper again, frowning as she looked at what she assumed was a seat number. It was a two-part number, consisting of a letter and a number; her confusion cleared somewhat when she realized the long benches were each assigned a letter, and she soon found the seat she had been assigned.

Haru sat down on the bench and looked around at the other young youkai talking excitedly as they clustered in small groups; whatever was going on, it seemed to be important to them...

'I don't know anyone here...' she thought, a little embarrassed. It didn't help that the boys all kept staring at her ears; she wanted to hide them again, but she didn't know how. Soon she had other things to worry about, however, as a small group ascended the stage and the other young youkai all rushed to their seats and she found herself pinned between a rather large boy from one of the fox tribes on one side, and a tall, skinny one that looked like he was probably from some weasel tribe or something on the other. Unfortunately, both kept looking at her ears.

Soon, however, the people up on the stage sat down except for one rather old youkai built like a bodybuilder. He stepped up to a podium and arranged some papers for a moment. When he spoke, the sudden deep booming of his voice made Haru jump; the two boys seated beside her immediately offered assistance, but she quickly waved them off and settled in to listen to the man's speech.

It didn't make much sense in Haru's opinion, but she admitted that was likely because she knew so little of youkai culture. The speaker, a youkai apparently of some import, was called Rydan Draos. 'He's got a really weird name, but then again, that's foreigners for you, I guess...' Haru thought as he went on in his startlingly deep voice for fifteen or twenty minutes about the past and what the future held. Haru let herself zone out, uncomfortably aware of the attention of the two boys beside her; it made her a little nervous...was this the sort of thing the pretty girls at school always had to deal with? At the very least, she could count herself luckier than they were: she could hide her ears at any time; they were stuck with what they had all the time.

The man up on stage called up several other old youkai one by one, each of whom made a short speech while the crowd of young youkai became more and more unruly. Haru was on the verge of falling asleep in her chair, nervous or not, when the old man stepped back up to the podium.

"Name your blessings when you are called!" Rydan Draos said, his magically amplified voice overwhelming even the noisiest of young youkai.

The crowd instantly stopped shifting and murmuring, and Haru was puzzled as she listened as each youkai was called in turn and announced their blessing. Most were things like 'The Blessing of the Pen' or 'The Blessing of the Plow'; she was quite sure she even heard a 'Blessing of the Broom' or two in there...nothing to compare with her own 'Blessing of the World', which she had received in the fortune teller's tent.

The ceremony continued on and on, and she listened for familiar names as they were called out in what seemed to be random order; the fox tribe boy on her left had the 'Blessing of the String', and the weasel boy on her right had the 'Blessing of the Bard', while she had yet to be called. When it was called, she thought the name of Nevon Bayle seemed familiar to her—and when he stood up she just _knew_ she had seen that beret he was wearing somewhere before—but she couldn't quite recall where she had heard or seen him before. Nevertheless, his 'Blessing of the Sea' caused an excited murmur to break out, and she could have sworn she heard someone saying something to the effect that he would be a real important youkai one day.

"Yagi Ryoko," Rydan called and, from the far end of Haru's row, she heard that familiar, chirpy voice as Ryoko replied.

"Blessing of the Forest!"

Much like Nevon's previous 'Blessing of the Sea', that caused another rippling murmur to flow through the crowd. Then for a while there were more simple sounding blessings like 'Blessing of the Coin' and 'Blessing of the Wand', until Haru's name was finally called and she stood up.

Haru swept her eyes over the young youkai seated in neat rows, the crowds of watching youkai who had already gone through this ceremony or were still too young, and finally rested on the man standing up on stage, Rydan Draos, the current steward of the youkai. She opened her mouth, and spoke.

"The Blessing of the World."

Dead silence swept over the youkai as all eyes turned to her. Haru had never liked being the center of attention, but even someone who did would have felt uncomfortable under the weight of all those stares. The silence stretched on and she shot a quick, nervous look at those who sat around her, but their eyes were all wide as they stared at her, as if they'd just witnessed something they hadn't ever thought possible.

Haru quickly sat down.

* * *

><p>"He~eh, that went well," Youko said, grinning from ear to ear after the ceremony when the trio had been reunited.<p>

"The Blessing of the Sea and the Blessing of the Forest too!" Keiko said, taking a notebook out of the backpack she had been carrying all day. She thumbed through it for a moment before finding the page she was looking for. "All that's missing are the Blessing of Steel and the Blessing of the Flame; I read that those blessings are very rare, reserved for the greatest heroes in youkai history," she said excitedly, peering up at Haru's face.

"Eh...what?" Haru asked, blinking stupidly. "Say what? Heroes? A hero? _Me_? No way! I'm not a hero, I'm just... I'm just _me,_" she said, holding up her hands.

Youko smirked. "Of course, and that's all you have to worry about right now. Just keep up your training and you won't have to worry about anything," she said, grinning crookedly.

"Look," Keiko said sharply, nodding at the stage. Something in her tone caught Youko and Haru's attention, and they looked up at the stage to see none other than Masashi, his ceremonial garb a little rough now after the altercation earlier, ascend to the podium.

"That son of a—" Youko began.

"My dear brothers and sisters," Masashi began, his amplified voice reeking of eloquence and kindness.

"Brothers and sisters my ass," Youko muttered under her breath.

They listened to Masashi blab away for a few minutes before Youko had had enough. "You know what? I'm gonna go up there and give him a piece of my mind," she said. "Come on Haru, Keiko; stick with me."

The trio had made it halfway to the stage before Masashi finally got to the point of his speech. "And so, my dear, dear friends, I am happy to announce my candidacy for the title of Youkai King!"

The crowd erupted in excitement; they were watching history in the making. It had been well over a hundred years since the last time someone had announced their candidacy for the highest title among the youkai; it had been more than three hundred years since the last Youkai King had ruled.

Rydan Draos, Steward of the Youkai in the Absence of the King, stepped forward and asked the first of the traditional questions. "How do you prove your worth?"

Masashi turned to face him. "I possess two of the sacred items," he said as two assistants carried a box up onto the stage and opened it.

Rydan spoke again. "Name the first."

Masashi knelt down and removed the first item from the box, a large, polished metal mirror over two feet across . "I present the sacred mirror, Yata no Kagami," he said, holding it high above his head so the crowd could see it as it gleamed in the sunlight. The crowd broke out into 'ooh's and 'aah's as he presented the mirror to Rydan for inspection.

After inspecting it, Rydan returned the mirror. "This is indeed the sacred mirror, Yata no Kagami. Very well. Name the second."

Masashi knelt down again and removed an elaborately decorated katana in an equally fancy sheath from the box and, with a flourish, drew the blade and held it high so it, too, caught and reflected the sunlight. "I present the ancient sword, Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi, the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven!" He sheathed the blade and held it out to Rydan, who took it, drew the elegantly made katana just far enough to get a look at the blade, and shoved it back into the sheath. He thrust it back into Masashi's hands.

"This...is _not_ the ancient sword, Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi."

* * *

><p>It took everything he had, but Masashi took the sword and swallowed his denials before he could speak them. It <em>had <em>to be the sword! It just _had_ to be...! It didn't make any _sense_! The only other swords in that storage room were plain things, ugly in their simplicity. None of them appeared as such a sacred relic must! They were...they were...

His composure cracked at the sudden sound of a slow clap from beside the stage.

With a tremendous effort of will, Masashi gathered himself and turned to see who was mocking him in such a public manner. When he spotted that familiar smirk, those blue eyes, that silvery-white hair, he barely managed to suppress the growl rising in his throat.

Miyoshi Youko, the daughter of the previous Youkai King, stood there beside the stage, grinning up at him, that mongrel half breed and the human brat hiding behind her. "Nice going Masashi; were you trying to pull one over on the Steward?"

"No," Masashi ground out, clenching his teeth to avoid saying something in anger that might come back to haunt him.

"Oh no, even _you_ wouldn't be _that_ stupid," she said, vaulting up onto the stage with ease.

Enough was enough; Youko had caused him too much embarrassment already. "Remove yourself from this stage, at once!" he bellowed.

"Who are you, Masashi, to issue orders in my presence?"

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled at the soft sound of the unbelievably deep voice. He turned hastily back to Rydan and bowed his head. "My apologies, Steward, I had forgotten myself in my anger. But please understand, Miyoshi Youko has-"

"She has just as much right to stand here, on this stage, as you do," Rydan replied, cutting him off firmly. He turned to Youko. "Well?"

Youko smiled brightly at Rydan, then looked out at the crowd, shifting in confusion as they wondered what was going on, who this newcomer was. She looked out at them, all confidence and life, and spoke. "The previous Youkai King, Miyoshi Kenshi, was my mother. I hereby claim my right by blood to seek the title of Youkai King!"

The crowd erupted in excitement; two candidates for the title of Youkai King, each with a solid claim, had announced their intentions here, at the most sacred of festivals, on the same day, on the same _stage_...! Only rarely had such a thing happened in the past, and never in living memory; this was history in the making.

"No...no!" Masashi growled out, his face red, his fists clenched and shaking with rage.

Youko looked back at him, her eyes mere slits, showing only the faintest bit of blue, unreadable and somehow terrifying as she spoke quietly enough for Masashi alone to hear. "Now now Masashi, be quiet. You brought this on yourself; are you prepared to face the consequences?"

"You-!" he began.

"You brought this to the next level, little boy," Youko said, interrupting him again. "It's been three hundred years, and I haven't forgotten what you did; I hope you can keep up."

Masashi was left speechless, clenching his teeth as he watched the woman who had become his enemy. 'Bitch bitch bitch bitch _bitch bitch __**bitch bitch bitch bitch **_**BITCH**_**...**_! She'll be no concubine of mine, no! That's too GOOD for _her..._! I'll see her dragged through the mud! Ripped up and fed to the _rats_! I'll put her head up on a spike! I'll kill her myself, the fucking _bitch_! As soon as I'm king, she is _dead! __**Dead!**_'

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

"Yoshida," the substitute math teacher, a rather bored looking man who called himself Sutain-sensei and normally taught economics in St. Ursula High School said as he checked attendance.

"Here."

"Poe-su-su-mu."

"She's still not back yet. And it's pronounced 'Pah-sum', sensei," Taro said.

"Kara."

"Here. And that's my given name, teacher. My family name is 'Stride'.

"Endo."

…

"Endo."

…

"Endo."

"Um...she's sick," Kagami offered. 'I can't let anyone know she's skipping school...!' "Her, um, cousin's...brother's...uncle's girlfriend saw her pass out over at Agatha's last night. It sounds pretty serious..."

"Oh. Thank you, Mochizuki."

"Er...not a problem."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Yeah...this one's a lot longer than I thought it would be when I started writing it. Twenty thousand words and forty pages, give or take a few. In any case, this chapter sets up one of the more important plotlines that will be featured in the future, involving Youko, Haru, Keiko, and everyone's favorite heiress and shy half-youkai duo. I hope you enjoy it! Next up: something dark._


	18. Ch 15 Gone

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 15: Gone**

* * *

><p><em>Language Warning<em>

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, July 1st, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>"She's...she's really gone? You're...you can't be serious! I mean, I saw her, just the other day..." Madoka said, trailing off as the truth of the matter finally began to sink in.<p>

The others lurked around the edges of the room, no one willing to meet anyone else's eyes, while Misa sat curled up in a chair, hiding her face and looking absolutely miserable.

"I meant what I said: Izumi Ako is no longer in Japan. She didn't leave the country through any of the normal routes either. I don't know where she went, but she's not here anymore," the tracking officer from the central mage agency said. "She's just...gone." He cast a look around the room at the others, Kakizaki Misa, the favorite apprentice of none other than Evangeline A.K. McDowell herself, staring off into the distance as she sat in her chair, Shiina Sakurako, one of the most powerful support mages in Japan if not all of East Asia, sitting up on the windowsill, looking as youthful as ever as she looked outside, Miyazaki Nodoka, brilliant mage and one of Negi Springfield's closest friends, frantically trying to set up her telepathic network in a last-ditch effort to find more information about where Ako had been seen before her disappearance, Kagurazaka Asuna, founding member of Ala Alba and the one who had famously earned the rank of Executioner of the Shinmeiryu in two short years, staring down at the floor in disbelief as she tried to process what was going on, Yukihiro Ayaka, heiress of the Yukihiro Group and long time member of Ala Alba, gaping at him from where she stood after coming up out of her chair, before finally settling back on Kugimiya Madoka, only half-jokingly called the Human Typhoon for her ability to destroy anything put before her, pacing and clearly terrified for the safety of her friend. All were famous names among the local mages and even back at central, and for good reason: every girl in this room had proven her worth several times over. Back at the office, the names of these girls were bandied about the same way normal people talked about comic book superheroes. Could Kugimiya beat Kagurazaka in a straight up fist fight? Who was the more effective mage, Kakizaki with her overwhelming power, or Miyazaki with her superior technique? Who was the better supporter, Shiina or Yukihiro? It was incredibly odd to see the faces behind so many of these famous names looking so helpless.

"What about something like a pocket dimension?" Asuna asked suddenly. "She might have gone into a pocket dimension, right? Right?"

The tracking officer took in the desperately hopeful look in Asuna's eyes and sighed, shaking his head. "No; our arrays allow us to detect any and all dimensional anomalies created by such a thing. The _only_ dimensional anomaly she is associated with is the one in the small cabin in the forest to the east, and our scans show she hasn't been _there_ in at least a month."

Asuna seemed to deflate at that, and the tracking officer sighed again. "Look," he said, "we're doing everything we can. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but there is evidence of a temporary portal being set up in the woods over in Yachiyo, in Ibaraki. We don't know where it was pointed, but there is evidence of a campsite built for a fair sized group of people, several dozen at least, too many to get their signatures untangled so quickly, and we have recovered six abandoned vehicles from a small lake near the site. We don't know who these people are, but they are _good_; their energy signatures are scrambled, and they managed to successfully hide a medium-scale portal from us. Believe me, we are doing everything we can. Izumi-san has some friends in high places; her case is getting much more attention than most in her position."

"Thank you for your help," Ayaka said suddenly, standing up from her chair and moving across the room to show the tracking officer to the door. "We appreciate it; please continue doing whatever you can."

When the tracking officer was gone and the door shut behind him, Ayaka turned to face the others. "We can work with this." Sakurako, Misa, and Asuna looked up at that, while Madoka paced back and forth, muttering to herself. Ayaka turned to Nodoka. "Anything new?"

Nodoka continued listening to someone in her network for a moment, her eyes closed, before shutting the network down and shaking her head helplessly. "No...no one seems to know anything. She was seen on the morning of the second day of the festival with the young man you told me about," she said, looking at Misa and Madoka, "but that's all I've been able to find out."

"If we get a description of those cars they found," Sakurako said, looking back out the window, "we can have Kazumi-chan and Chachamaru check the security cameras around town. Again." Very few businesses in Mahora had exterior security cameras, due to both cost and the way they tended to pick up mysterious bursts of static or break almost constantly. Nevertheless, there were still quite a few external security cameras in place, and if one of them filmed one of the suspect cars... "Maybe we can..." she trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"I can't believe I let my guard down like that, I don't know what I was thinking! I have to save her, it's the only thing I can do..." Madoka muttered to herself as she continued pacing.

"I know the guy in charge of Yachiyo," Asuna said. "I can call in a favor and get some more information on that camp site and those cars, though they probably won't let us go there to see for ourselves. We can maybe send Kazumi up there to spy on the campsite from above, and maybe have Reiko or Sayo-chan ask the ghosts if they saw anything unusual."

Ayaka nodded. "Sounds like a plan," she said thoughtfully as she looked over the others in the room until her eyes rested on Misa, still curled up in her chair and hiding her face. Ayaka moved to close the gap between them and stood for a moment looking down at her old friend before gently resting her hand on Misa's shoulder. Misa looked up at her, her eyes puffy from crying and her makeup running, and Ayaka gave her a confident smile. "Don't worry, Misa; we'll find out who took her, and we're going to take her back."

"We'll make them pay, too," Madoka said quietly, clenching her fists as she stopped pacing to look over at Misa.

"That's right," Asuna said, nodding. Nodoka nodded as well.

"Ako-chan's our important friend," Sakurako said. "We'll find her," she said, her tone unusually serious as she stood up from the windowsill. "I have something I have to take care of; see ya later," she said.

Asuna watched her go and turned back to the others when the door had again closed. "Yeah, she's right. I have to call up that guy I know in Yachiyo, and I know Nodoka's got a lot of work ahead of her," she said, glancing over at Nodoka, who nodded.

Ayaka smiled at the others. "That's true; we all have a lot of work ahead of us. For now, we should assume the kidnappers have fled to Mundus Magicus; as soon as we get some descriptions, I'll send them over and see what I can discover, and someone has to tell Negi-sensei. Come on Asuna, Nodoka-san; we have work to do."

A moment later, Madoka and Misa were left alone in the room.

"Do you think..." Misa said, trailing off before she could speak what was on her mind.

"Hmm?" Madoka asked, standing nearby.

Misa looked up at her hesitantly, and quickly turned toward the window to hide her face. "Do you think I—we could have saved her if we realized she was gone sooner?"

Madoka looked away, unwilling to let her closest friend see her face. "I-I don't know. I mean, that first night, I wondered where she was, b-but...but I d-didn't even..."

Madoka trailed off halfway through, and Misa didn't respond. The room fell silent.

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, July 2nd, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>He looked at the well worn class roster, the first one he had used, now six years old and covered in handwritten notes and doodles. From Takahata's well-wishes to the devil horns he had drawn on Asuna's picture after first meeting her and later scribbled out, he knew every pen mark on it, every scuff was like an old friend. He didn't know why he had packed it that morning instead of his current one, but when he had opened his briefcase upon arriving at school, there it had been, and it had brought with it memories of people and events he hadn't thought of in years. It seemed like only yesterday that Konoka and Asuna had graduated middle school and he had been forced to move into his own apartment...<p>

"Sensei."

Why, he was quite sure that he could recall most of the times he had 'accidentally' summoned Asuna into his bedroom because he couldn't sleep; looking back on it now, he knew it was really pretty sketchy behavior on his part, but beyond some teasing, Asuna hadn't ever seemed to mind, and now that he was older and could see things a little more clearly, he supposed she had missed his almost nightly forays into her bed. And now, she was sleeping in his bed again...granted, they were both older now and he was sleeping on the couch—EVERY night,_ thank you very much_—but the arrangement seemed to bring forth a certain sense of nostalgia that he treasured so, so much, far more than he could express in mere words. Things had become somehow...unpleasant in the past few years. Ever since that trip to America with his friend and fellow teacher Max Linell, that sensation of unease had grown, and he had stopped finding enjoyment in any of the activities that had formerly brought him hours of entertainment. He had lost interest in antiques, learning about Japanese history, even tea—_tea!—_had ceased being something he enjoyed and instead became merely something to drink when he was thirsty. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't pinpoint any one moment in time when this sensation of disquiet had first made itself known, but from what he could tell-

"_Sensei_."

-it had only grown with time. It had grown with time, sharpened by events. Events such as the incident on the dig site in Tibet when his old friend Ayase Yue had been temporarily entombed in some ruins during an earthquake, events such as the spontaneous shattering of four of the statues in the secret storage building in his home town—petrified villagers, every one—events such as the kidnapping of one of his own students, Possum Cade, through his own inadequacy as both a mage and a teacher, and now, the kidnapping of one of his old friends, a student from his first class, Izumi Ako. Ako-san, the hopelessly cute young woman who had developed such a crush on his adult form six years before, Ako-san, the kind and gentle soul who cried over the injured even as she did her best to save them, Ako-san, whom he had failed so completely by-

The slap was so startling it left him blinking, his cheek burning, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the utterly blank expression on the face of the student standing on the other side of his desk. Student number thirteen, Ono Ran, stood there, staring back at him.

"Negi-sensei...!" student number fourteen, Yoshida Ume said in horror as she half-rose from her seat, a move mirrored by several other students.

"Ono-san...she slapped Negi-kun...!" Sasaski Rina said, horrified at what she had just witnessed.

"Ono-san...!" Hayashi Fujiko bellowed as she shot up from her chair with such force that it fell over backward.

Ono Ran shot such a blank glance at Fujiko that it made her face go pale, then swiftly looked over the rest before focusing the weight of her stare back on Negi.

"O-Ono-san, go back to your desk-"

"You are weak," she said, her voice not quite low enough to keep the other students from hearing what she had said. She paused upon hearing several of the other girls gasp, and turned back to look over at them, shutting them up immediately. She stood there a moment, just looking at the other students, and abruptly headed back to her seat and gathered up her things before turning back to Negi.

"I feel sick; I'm going to the nurse's office." She walked to the door without waiting for a reply and exited the room.

Several seconds passed after the door had shut before Rina let out a ragged breath. "Th-that was scary...!" she said, clinging to her friend Inoue Ai, who sat in front of her and shared a table with Ono Ran.

"W-what was her problem? I mean, you don't just go around h-hitting teachers! That's against the rules...!" Fujiko said, pale and shaking like a leaf as she sat in her chair. Something about her classmate's blank stare had been incredibly disturbing on some deep, secretive level; she didn't understand it at all, but she felt as if she had somehow been exposed, as if she had gotten on the train naked, and she found the mystifying event all the more upsetting because of it.

Negi looked around the classroom, dazed from the sudden unexpected violence from what was normally a polite, even shy student, until his gaze fell on Evangeline, who watched him with a measuring gaze. What she wanted to say was plain on her face: _What are you going to do about this, boy?_

Negi swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and looked back down at the old class roster as it sat open on his desk beside the English textbook he was supposed to be using to teach today's lesson. He looked out over the class again, did his best to convince himself he wasn't shaken by the frighteningly incomprehensible incident with Ono-san, and flipped the roster shut. He stood up, taking his textbook and lesson notes with him, and strolled over to the podium, doing his best to ignore the stinging in his cheek. He very carefully placed the items he carried on the podium, placed his hands on the well worn edges of the top of the podium in the stance every good teacher has perfected, and made a gentle smile as he looked out over his students again. "Well, while I can think of several much better ways to do it, I must thank Ono-san later for waking me up; I have been quite tired since waking up this morning," he said, his smile changing into a charming grin as he spoke. "Please open your textbooks to lesson twenty three. Today we will be studying-"

* * *

><p>"What the hell was <em>that<em>?" Sato Gin demanded during the lunch break. "I mean she just went up to him and _hit_ him!"

Her best friend, Mako Sylvester, shrank back a little at Gin's vehemence, but shook her head. "I don't know...I've never been able to read Ono-san; she has a wall inside." All Mako normally needed to do to 'read' someone, as she called it, was to come into physical contact with them. Usually, simply brushing against another person was enough to trigger her ability; sometimes all it took was picking up something another person had dropped. But with her classmate Ono Ran...it was as if she had some sort of wall built around her, blocking any sort of anomalous cognition. Any attempt Mako made was repelled with equal force, something she had learned through her own experimentation early in the school year. At the time, she had accidentally bumped into Ono Ran in the hallway, an incident that would normally have ensured a psychic episode, but...nothing had happened. Curious, Mako had performed several experiments, all of which had led to the same result; she had wanted to ask the other girl how she did what she did, but she could never work up the courage to actually initiate a conversation with her. She had thought, after beginning the extensive training that she was undergoing with Gin and the others in Eva's resort, that she might be strong enough to force her way in, but her first attempt had dropped her to the floor with an excruciating headache, and Ono had given her a blank look and told her to stop. Mako, naturally, had been quite disturbed.

Gin took a big bite of the sandwich Mako had made her for lunch and chewed for a moment. "Something's up with that delinquent, and I want to know what it is," she muttered darkly as she used the back of her hand to wipe the crumbs from her mouth.

"I don't think she's someone you can take lightly," Yamamoto Kimi, fellow training partner to the others, said from where she sat nearby with her best friend Abe Aiko. "I think she's really dangerous..."

Gin cocked an eyebrow at her and gave her a condescending look. "Oh? And how would you know that? Your 'warrior instincts'?" she said, making air quotes as she spoke the last two words.

Kimi stiffened, annoyed, but nodded.

"Look, it's not like she's done anything bad before," Aiko said, raising her hands in an attempt to defuse the situation before it could get out of hand. Gin and Kimi clashed all the time; Gin's rebelliousness and Kimi's sense of responsibility went together about as well as oil and water, and the two of them couldn't get into a conversation without it turning into an argument. Nevertheless, they were both part of the group. "She probably just had a bad day..."

"Um...actually..." Kai, also a fellow training partner, said, having overheard part of the conversation as she was walking through. She walked over to the others and knelt down next to the table. "Ono-san knocked out a guy that was bothering me at the festival."

"What?!" Gin replied.

"No way...!" Aiko said, leaning forward, eager for gossip.

"I haven't heard _this_ before," Kimi said, also leaning forward.

Mako followed the example set by the others and scooted closer.

"Okay, so I was walking around in the morning, right?" Kai said. "Well, next thing I know, some jerk sticks his foot out and trips me! So I get up to yell at him, but he starts chasing me," she said, carefully omitting the part where she took off running as soon as she realized the boy was a youkai while everyone leaned in closer. "So he chases me for a while and this cat gets in the way and he catches me. Threw me into a wall too! Can you believe it?"

"The nerve of him," Gin said, utterly deadpan.

Aiko's hand had moved to cover her mouth as if she was horrified at this development, but her eyes glittered in barely-contained curiosity.

"So then he...er...so I push him away and he just sorta keels over, like somebody knocked him out," Kai said quickly, leaving out the part about her first kiss being taken and how she had actually thought the youkai boy was cute enough that she almost wanted to kiss him back. "So I look over and Ono's just standing there at the end of the alley, looking all spooky! I wanted to hit him, but she did something that really hurt my head, like, from the _inside_ or something. It was really weird!"

"How do you know it was her?" Kimi asked, watching her face closely.

Kai shivered and shook her head. "Believe me, if you had been there, you wouldn't wonder at all."

The five fell silent for a long, contemplative moment.

"So...what, she can shoot mind bullets at people?" Gin asked, her disbelief fading.

"I dunno," Kai said. "Whatever it was, it was strong enough to knock him out from thirty feet away. When she hit me with it, it just...really hurt my head, I can't really describe it any other way. There wasn't anything I could see either, not like magic."

The group fell into another silence.

"So...like a TV psychic or something, huh...?" Aiko said idly as she looked down at the table top. Her gaze drifted over to Mako, who shrank back. "Can you...?" she said, trailing off.

Mako shook her head shyly, as she did any time she was questioned about her ability. "Not at all..."

"Different type of psychic," Gin said defensively, jumping in with a glare to defend her best friend.

"Right, right," Aiko said, backing off. "Just wondering. But we should probably tell somebody, right? I mean...if Ono-san's that dangerous, people should know so they can be prepared to defend against it."

"Survival Rule Number One: Always Plan Ahead," the other four recited together, rolling their eyes. It was the first of a series of rules their P.E. teacher/Magic teacher Max Linell had forced them to memorize as part of their training. He claimed it was the most important rule of all; Aiko was inclined to agree, but then again she had been brought up to consider all the possible outcomes of a situation and be prepared for them; it was why her bookbag was three times heavier than those belonging to most of her classmates; ink and specially prepared paper and ritual tools weighed a lot, after all.

"Yeah...anyway, I've gotta get back to Miyako and Kara," Kai said, standing up.

"Oh! Is Ayumi-san still sick?" Aiko asked. Gin looked at her, then up at Kai, curious.

Kai shrugged. "That's what Miyako says. I think she just doesn't want to come to school; it wouldn't be the first time," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah yeah, get going," Gin said, not unfondly as she turned back to the remains of her sandwich. She got along with Kai pretty well, considering. She supposed it was something to do with their shared distrust of just about everybody. They tended to see eye to eye right away, even faster than Gin did with Mako. "Ayumi, huh?" she said absently when Kai was gone.

"Kobayashi...I just can't get along with that girl," Kimi said, poking at the wrapper from the melon bread she had eaten earlier.

"Tch. aggravating bi—" Gin cut herself off and glanced at Mako as the quiet girl finished tidying up her lunchbox. "Aggravating brat," she amended.

"Well she certainly isn't the easiest girl to get along with," Aiko said dryly. Aiko spoke from experience. As the only student in the whole class in the Photography Club, Aiko often found herself having to retake a perfect shot over and over again because Ayumi insisted on doing a 'better pose'. If she denied Ayumi's request, Ayumi would inevitably blow her top. Aiko didn't like people to be angry with her, especially someone with Ayumi's reputation; everyone knew how Ayumi mistreated Caro all the time, and how vicious she could be to the other girl.

"Ayumi, huh..." Aiko said after a long moment. "I wonder what's keeping her out of class, anyway?"

* * *

><p>The bundle of blankets on Ayumi's bed shifted slightly. A moment later the sound of a growling stomach filled the otherwise silent room.<p>

"Ugh..."

The bundle shifted again and a hand poked out and reached for the small table beside the bed, where it patted around for a moment as if searching for something. A moment later, it came upon the shattered remains of a cell phone and paused. The bundle of blankets let out a sigh, and the hand was withdrawn.

"Stupid cell phone..."

Ayumi abruptly sat up, throwing the blankets off, and took a moment to blink away the tiny black spots that filled her vision before she glanced around the room. As expected, her roommates Miyako and Rosemary were both gone, probably in class. Ayumi rubbed her eyes and looked over at Rosemary's alarm clock. "One thirty," Ayumi muttered. She sat there on her bed for a moment, stupid with sleep and trying to ignore the headache she had. She looked idly down at her book bag, still lying where she had left it by the door days ago, and scratched her stomach. Her stomach growled again and she frowned. "...hungry..." She couldn't quite recall the last time she had eaten, but it had definitely been a while. 'Maybe yesterday morning...?' she thought idly. She yawned, and swung her legs out over the edge of the bed.

"Urgh..."

She pulled herself upright, swayed for a moment in dizziness, and shuffled over to the mirror. She glanced at her reflection, and quickly recoiled. While she was by no means an unattractive girl and could actually be considered borderline beautiful, Ayumi went through a lot of trouble to keep herself looking her best. Hair dye, scented soaps, expensive shampoos and conditioners, three baskets full of different kinds of makeup and another for all the other little things a young woman thinks she needs to be beautiful...these and more were the things Ayumi valued most; she had neglected all of them since the third day of the festival.

She looked at the stringy, sweaty hair on her reflection in the mirror, curled oddly here and there and with her roots starting to show, and shuddered, rubbing her forehead; her head was really starting to pound. She shook her head to clear it and stumbled over to the dresser. "Need a shower..." She gathered what she needed and threw it all in a basket, wrinkling her nose as she caught a whiff of her own unwashed body. Three days without washing in the middle of a Japanese summer while hiding under several layers of blankets was not without its consequences, unfortunately. She paused at the door for a moment, considering whether or not to go out in her sweaty pajamas, but shook her head and opened the door. She paused in the doorway, looking up and down the hall, and stepped out when it proved to be empty, pulling the door shut behind her. She set off down the hall.

* * *

><p>The baths were empty, just as Ayumi had expected. She washed off in a rather haphazard manner in the showers, and then made her way out to the baths themselves. She wandered off to the back of the enormous room and gently lowered herself into one of the smaller baths, mostly obscured from the rest by decorative greenery. Safely hidden in her favorite spot, she sat back and made herself comfortable, trying to forget about the nightmare her life had so recently become. Misa-sama didn't care about her, her stepmother was a monster and the guy the woman had married after Ayumi's father died made her nervous, her grades were going down, it felt like her band members were drifting away...Ayumi scowled.<p>

"Stupid Kara...!" she said to the empty bathhouse. Kara had gotten to play music with Ayumi's favorite band, Dekopin Rocket. Not only that, but it was up on stage, on the biggest day of the festival...! How was _that_ fair? Kara hadn't even been able to play at all until Ayumi had started teaching her after drafting her into the band, and had she ever said 'thank you'? No! 'I don't think so, anyway,' Ayumi thought, trying to recall if the totally stacked American girl had ever done so. One thought drifted to another and, lulled half to sleep by the warmth of the water and the exhaustion she felt after the last few days, her thoughts mellowed as she thought of her bandmate.

'Kara's so pretty...' she thought idly, lifting her arm out of the water so she could look at her skin. 'Her skin's prettier than mine, her eyes are bigger, her _boobs_ are bigger...'

Ayumi lowered herself further into the water until her chin touched the surface, and stopped. "Stupid Kara," she muttered without venom, hugging herself. She lowered herself still further and began blowing bubbles. "Stupid pretty Kara," she said aloud. "She's all pretty and...and...fun to...to hug...and I want to..." she trailed off, her mind a confusing jumble that made it hard to think.

The sharp _bang_ as the door bounced open and hit the wall startled Ayumi so much she shot up out of the water so fast she found her vision filling with little black dots again. She was dimly aware of hearing a couple of voices at the other end of the room as she swayed, wobbling back and forth.

"My head feels weird," she muttered as her vision started to blur. The headache she had had since waking up had really started pounding.

"Ha! You'd better be careful, you're stronger than you used to be," someone said in a loud, tomboyish voice from what Ayumi thought _had_ to be a million miles away. Someone else muttered what had to be an apology, though she couldn't make out the words.

Ayumi, confused and unable to think clearly, her head feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds, tried to step out of the bath, but she felt slow and stupid and _weak_ and couldn't quite get her foot up high enough; it hit the side as she tried to climb out of the bath and she started to fall forward. Her eyes widened as the tile floor rushed up to greet her face, and everything went black.

* * *

><p>The first thing Ayumi noticed was that she felt incredibly relaxed, as if she had just had some of the best sleep of her life. She let out a contented sigh and shifted her body, trying to find a more comfortable position. It was only an instant later that she realized she wasn't lying in her bed; the cold, wet tiles under her back were enough to startle her back to wakefulness as she shot upright, her vision going almost immediately black.<p>

"Hey! Calm down, Ayumi! You should lay back down-"

Ayumi's gaze darted back and forth frantically as she tried to figure out where she was, but someone's hands were pressing on her shoulders and forcing her back down. She let out a high, breathless scream and walloped the other person in the face with her fist.

"Ow...! Don't _do_ that!"

Ayumi struggled futilely against whoever was there, flat on her back and barely able to think, until her vision finally began to clear and she saw another girl's face looking back down at her.

"Hey, are you okay?" the girl asked.

Ayumi's heart was pounding from the sheer confusion of the last few seconds, but after a moment the blanks in her memory began filling themselves in. 'I...was going to take a bath, right? This is the baths, I recognize the ceiling,' she thought, calming significantly. She couldn't quite recall actually getting to the baths, but...

"You just need to take it easy, alright? Yuuna, uh...sensei's getting some towels so we can dry you off and take you to the nurse's office, okay?"

Ayumi blinked up at the girl for a moment. "Possum...?" She didn't really know the other girl; the only interaction between them had been during class or whenever Ayumi went to the dorm room Possum shared with Kara. "Weren't you sick?" she asked, scrunching her eyebrows as she tried to recall some of the speculation among her classmates about why the other girl had been missing classes since before the festival.

"Eh heh...I-I guess so; something like that," Possum said, nervously looking away. Ayumi figured she must have seen something good, because she immediately perked up and looked back down at her. "Here she comes. Can you sit up?"

Ayumi reluctantly took the other girl's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up to a seated position, realizing for the first time that Possum was wrapped in a towel, and a little surprised at how easily the other girl pulled her up and steadied her. She groaned as her head started to swim, but Possum held her upright and the sensation passed. Her stomach growled, and she looked away, embarrassed.

Possum ignored it and helped keep her steady until a strange, smiling woman with a sideways ponytail appeared in her field of vision.

"Heya," the stranger said, a small basket containing some clothes and towels held under her arm. "How do you feel?" she said, putting the basket down beside her as she knelt down to get closer to Ayumi's eye level.

Ayumi blinked at her as she tried to recall where she had seen the woman. "...I'm alright, I guess," she said idly, her gaze drifting down the woman's face and neck to her chest, pausing where the large bathtowel she wore cut off the view. She blinked again, her mind still addled, unable to keep from staring.

"Well, as much as I appreciate the attention," the woman said, grinning wickedly at her, "I'm afraid there are other things you should be focusing on than _these_."

Ayumi quickly looked away, blushing as she realized her nakedness for the first time and quickly brought her knees up and crossed her arms protectively over her chest.

"Now that's more like it," the woman said. "Oh, my name's Yuuna, by the way. Akashi Yuuna! Professor Akashi's my dad," she said proudly; her arrogant expression faded a little when Ayumi just looked at her blankly, however. "Anyway, we need to get you dried off, so here," she said, pulling a towel out of the basket beside her. "Can you sit up on your own?"

"I...I think so," Ayumi said. She glanced at Possum, who reluctantly let go of her, and sat there a moment, feeling weak, but at least capable of staying upright on her own. She stood up with Possum's help and took the towel Yuuna offered; she quickly wrapped it around her body, then accepted another, smaller one for her hair. She looked for her hair clips for a moment before recalling that she hadn't even bothered to put them on before leaving her room.

Yuuna shook out Ayumi's pajama pants and wrinkled her nose at the smell. "Man, these really stink...don't you have anything else to wear?"

Ayumi shook her head, a bit miffed, and Yuuna rolled her eyes and heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Man...this is pretty rough," she said, holding the pajamas out at arm's length. "Well, I don't have any extra clothes and I'm pretty sure Possum-chan here's almost as bad off as you, so...what? Think you guys can get back to your rooms in just a towel?" she said, a wide grin on her face.

Ayumi clenched her teeth, snatched her sweaty pajamas from Yuuna's hands, and stalked toward the exit. She threw the door open, walked through, and slammed it shut behind her, the sound echoing through the otherwise silent building.

'Stupid Akashi!'

She stalked down the hall to the stairs.

'Stupid Possum!'

She was clenching her teeth so hard her jaw was starting to hurt, but she ignored it.

"Making fun of me!" she said aloud, all but spitting the words. She tried to ignore the way her heart was pounding or the way her hands were shaking. She continued down the stairwell, banging her fist against the safety rail with every other step until her foot landed on the edge of a step and slipped off. Before she could react, Ayumi found herself falling back. The back of her head hit the edge of a step and bounced, she saw stars, another stair hit her in the ribs, and then she was rolling down the stairwell and hit the stair landing in a heap, ultimately rolling straight into the wall, her towel miraculously still wrapped around her.

Ayumi laid there a moment, curled up at the base of the wall, a whimpering bundle of bruises.

'_Why_? Why is everything going _wrong_?!' she thought bitterly, her body aching. A moment later, the reality of what had just happened to her began to sink in.

Ayumi's eyes widened. 'I fell down the stairs...' she thought, horrified. People _died_ from that kind of thing...! She put her hands under her and pushed herself up, and let out a breathless little cry as her bruised ribs protested.

'Why, dammit? _Why?_ Why why why why _why_?!'

She pushed herself up to a seated position and leaned against the wall, her heart pounding in terror at what she felt was a narrow escape from death, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath while holding back her sobs. She tried to stand up, using the windowsill behind her, and let out another scream as she staggered to her feet, clutching at her side, where the edge of a step had caught her in the ribs. She almost collapsed back into the wall, terrified at her own helplessness.

"Ayumi...!"

Ayumi staggered away from the wall, heading for the stairs down to the next level, barely registering the presence of Possum and Yuuna, both standing at the top of the stairwell she had fallen down.

'No! I can't let anyone see me like this...!' Ayumi thought frantically through the pain in her side, which had rapidly outstripped all the rest. With her head spinning from hunger and pain, she stumbled closer to the stairs.

"Ayumi, no! _Don't!_" Possum yelled, her odd accent, developing from her natural American accent combined with the way she had learned Japanese, identified her immediately, even through the confusing fog in Ayumi's head.

The next thing Ayumi knew, someone had grabbed her upper arm hard enough to bruise and yanked her back, away from the stairs. '_No!_ I can't let anyone see...! I'm too weak-' Ayumi jerked away from Possum and stumbled back to the very edge of the top stair, where she teetered on her heel for one long, horrifying instant, her eyes widening in rapidly growing alarm as she started to fall backward until Possum darted forward and snagged her arm again, yanking her away from the stairs. Ayumi let out a bloodcurdling scream as the bones in her wrist ground together, and then she hit the wall hard, driving the air from her lungs and would have hit the floor again had Possum not caught her.

"Ayumi! Ayumi, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Possum said, her frantic tone doing nothing to calm Ayumi's racing mind.

'No no no no NO!' "_Get away from me...!_" Ayumi screamed as she gave Possum a monstrous shove that sent her stumbling back, her arms pinwheeling as she tried to regain her balance. The next three seconds seemed to stretch to hours for Ayumi as she watched her classmate Possum Cade stumble back toward the stairs, the American girl's eyes widening in fear as she stepped backward over the edge of the top step into nothingness and began to fall. Ayumi's gaze locked with Possum's as the girl fell; from the first impact of Possum's back against the edges of the stairs to the way the top of her head slammed back and caught against an anti-skid strip, forcing her head back at an impossible angle and making her body flip over from the momentum of her fall, arms and legs flung out, to the sickening impact as she hit the steps again and rolled clumsily to the bottom, where she lay still in a broken heap, the girl's bath towel still miraculously in place.

Ayumi brought her hands up to cover the lower half of her face, unable to avert her gaze from Possum's unmoving form at the foot of the stairs. 'Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God...' "I-I...I didn't-" Two hands with a grip like iron grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall, making the back of her head smack against it so hard she saw stars again. The hands shook her violently, and suddenly the strange woman from before, '...was her name Yuuna...?' Ayumi wondered, barely able to think, was right up in her face, the woman's otherwise pretty face marred by rage.

"Listen up you little _bitch_," Yuuna said, giving her another shake, "I _just got Possum back_, and you are _not_ going to take her away from me again...!" she snarled. "You could've killed her! I don't care _what_ you've been through, I don't care _how_ sick you are! You are _never_ going to behave like such a halfwit bonehead _ever again_! Understand?" She gave Ayumi another vicious shake, harder than the last and slammed her into the wall again. "_DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME_?" she ground out from between clenched teeth, her withering glare doing far more than her words in getting her point across.

Ayumi, tears building, nodded frantically and Yuuna shoved her away and rushed down the stairs to where Possum was starting to stir, leaving Ayumi sliding down the wall in the corner, her towel finally coming undone. Ayumi didn't even notice its absence as it fell. 'I can't let anyone know I'm so weak, I can't I can't I _can't_!' Yuuna helped Possum up, the younger girl shaking her head to clear it and favoring one leg, and sent one final glare up at Ayumi.

_Watch out._

Ayumi flinched back, thoroughly cowed and terrified more of the fact that someone else knew just how weak she actually was in spite of the facade she kept than anything the woman could physically do to her. For years and years, she had built up walls to protect herself. The emotional abuse she had received from her stepmother every waking moment since her father's death had forced her to do what she could to stay sane...but that woman had ripped through her defenses with ease, making her feel stupid and weak and _helpless_, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, the fact that someone other than her stepmother could lay her bare so easily was horrifying... Ayumi did the only thing she could do: she waited until the scary woman took Possum and left, and hurried back to her room as fast as she could, where she could hide under the covers in her bunk and cry.

* * *

><p>By the time Ayumi made it back to the room, Miyako was already there, changing out of her school uniform. Ayumi blushed furiously, trying to hide the ugly bruise on her wrist where Possum had grabbed her earlier, not to mention the others she had received in her fall, but she realized she must have let something slip because Miyako was right beside her an instant later, putting an arm around her back and directing her into the room.<p>

Ayumi tried to pull away, but Miyako wasn't having any of it and led her straight to her bed.

"Here you go Ayumi, just sit down right here and I'll get some clothes for you," Miyako said as she bustled around.

Ayumi clenched her teeth, her lips a thin line as she snatched at the shirt and pair of shorts Miyako offered. "I need underwear," she muttered.

"Hm?" Miyako said, turning back to look at her.

For some reason, Ayumi found her roommate's big eyes, cute face, and that clueless expression she always wore to be immensely irritating. "I said I need some _underwear_!" she said, all but snarling as she spoke. She immediately felt bad for yelling at Miyako, but somehow that startled, slightly fearful expression the other girl had let show on her face was gratifying; she felt bad about feeling that way, but it was too late to do anything about it so she accepted the articles of underwear Miyako held out to her. She sat there on the bed in her bath towel a moment, looking at the underwear with her clothes lying on the bed next to her while Miyako kept shooting concerned looks at her. "Go away," she said under her breath.

"Ayumi-chan? What did you—eep!"

"I said _go away_ dammit!" Ayumi screamed, getting up off the bed and shoving Miyako into the room's small bathroom. She slammed the door shut, her head spinning from her sudden violent motion, and Ayumi would have fallen to the floor had she not stumbled into the wall.

Ayumi leaned against the wall for a long moment, trying to catch her breath, before Miyako spoke again from the other side of the door.

"...Ayumi...? Are you... Did something happen?"

"_No_!" Ayumi growled, shoving herself up and off the wall. "Stay in there until I tell you to come out!"

"Ayumi...if something's wrong, you would tell me, wouldn't you? I mean, you're my-"

"_No_! Nothing's wrong!" Ayumi all but screamed, cutting her off. 'Shut _up_ Miyako!' she thought viciously, trying desperately to ignore how terrible she felt for treating the other girl so badly.

"...Ayumi?"

"Shut _up _I said!"

Ayumi stood there beside her bed, her fists shaking as tears began to fall again. 'Why am I even crying?' she thought. "Stupid...stupid Possum, m-making me push her like that...she'd better not tell Kara, or I'll...I'll..." Ayumi trailed off at that horrible thought. Her bandmate Kara was Possum's roommate; if Possum told Kara that Ayumi had...had been forced to push her toward those stairs, then... A flood of appalling thoughts rushed through Ayumi's mind. Kara might look down on her, Kara might quit the band, Kara might _hate_ her... Ayumi's heartbeat sped up further at that last, cruel thought. Sure, Kai was her oldest friend in Mahora, but in all the class, Ayumi talked to Kara the most; the thought of losing that was far more distressing than she had thought possible, and she didn't even know why.

Ayumi sat down on her bed for a moment, staring off into space, idly holding some underwear as she tried to make sense of the tangle of emotions that appeared whenever she thought of Kara. Irritation, anger, jealousy...her face started to go red again as she realized just how jealous she felt of her bandmate. Envy of Kara's good looks, curiosity about what Kara thought of her, which brought about a sense of fear based around what Kara would think if she knew Ayumi wanted to know... The list went on and on into territory that was downright questionable: Ayumi wanted to...she blushed heavily.

"I want to...I want her to..." She paused. 'What am I thinking? This is really weird...' Nevertheless, she continued on. "I want to stay here and be friends with Kara forever," she said aloud, scared of the words even as she said them. She didn't know why she had felt the urge to say them out loud. It was embarrassing, that's what it was; she shook her head to clear it and stood up to take off her bath towel.

"...Ayumi?" Miyako said, opening the bathroom door.

Ayumi froze in place, her eyes widening in panic. Miyako...she had _heard_...! She whirled on the other girl, lips stretched thin, teeth showing in a snarl as she darted forward into the bathroom. Miyako offered little resistance as Ayumi grabbed her and pushed her into a wall.

"Ayumi, stop it! You're hurting me...!"

"Shut _up_!" Ayumi hissed at her, her whole body shaking as she held Miyako up against the wall, her expression contorted into a grimace as she scrambled to figure out what to do.

"Ayumi-chan—ah!"

"Shut _up_ I said!" Ayumi said desperately, pulling Miyako back from the wall and slamming her back into it. A small framed picture print fell off its hook and hit the floor; the glass shattered. Ayumi didn't even notice; she couldn't tear her eyes away from Miyako's face and the simple acceptance and understanding she found there. "No, _no_! Shut up!" she said again, her fingers digging into Miyako's upper arms.

"Ayumi-chan, it will be all-"

"_SHUT UP_...!" Ayumi screamed, giving Miyako another shake. "Shut up shut up _shut up SHUT __**UP**_!" she wailed, then heaved the other girl aside. Miyako let out a squeak as she toppled over the clothes hamper and hit the floor, right in the middle of the pile of broken glass. Miyako gasped and jerked away, revealing a splash of red. Ayumi's gaze focused on the thin streak of blood on the floor, shot to Miyako's unblemished face as she looked down at her hands, wide eyed, and finally down to Miyako's hands and the three inch gash across her left palm. Ayumi's eyes went wide and she took a step back. "N...no..."

Miyako sat there on the floor, clutching her injured hand, and Ayumi took another step back, shaking her head. Her own hand had been hurt like that, a long, long time ago. Her eyes kept going back to that absurdly out of place smear of blood on the floor, to Miyako's injured hand, and back again. She took another step back, her eyes straying back to the small streak of blood on the floor. Miyako looked up at her, her eyes full of forgiveness, and Ayumi took another step back, bumping into the doorframe; that was all it took to make her turn and bolt for the safety of her bed. Three seconds later, she was safely hidden under her blankets, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clamped over her ears to keep the rest of the world out.

* * *

><p><em>Friday, July 3rd, 2009<em>

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><p>"Ayumi's not here again today, huh?" Kai said idly as she stepped into the club room. The only other person present was her fellow bandmate Kara.<p>

Kara shook her head. "I haven't seen her in days; I wonder what happened..." she said, plucking the strings of her bass guitar in a random tune as she spoke.

Kai listened, winced. "Your E string's off," she offered as she walked over to the small refrigerator the four of them kept stocked with drinks. Normally the American girl would have realized that right away and fixed it; she supposed it was a measure of just how worried Kara was, even though she would never admit anything beyond a general sense of concern for a classmate...Kai snorted. Kara was _such_ a tsundere.

"Oh, thanks," Kara said as she made the proper adjustment to get her bass back in tune. "I didn't notice."

"Yeah..." Kai said as she poked around in the fridge. Nothing looked good. "Miyako would've told us if anything was _really_ wrong with her."

"Yeah..."

Kai sighed in resignation and took out two bottles of water. She tossed one at Kara, secretly impressed by the way the other girl caught it with ease without even really looking at it, and strolled over to her drum set with the other. She sat down on the wobbly little stool she had appropriated to use as a drummer's throne, and opened her bottle of water. She took a sip and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm sure she's fine. I doubt she'll apologize for making you worry so much though," she said, grinning.

Kara jerked guiltily and looked away. "It's not like that! I'm not worried, I'm just kind of...I'm mad at her for always skipping out on practice," she finished lamely.

Kai couldn't help but grin. Yeah, Kara was definitely worried about Ayumi...it was almost cute. Her grin widened. 'This looks like fun; I want to tease her some more~' she thought. "Hey Kara, why don't you-"

"Where is Miyako, anyway?" Kara said suddenly in what Kai could tell was just an attempt to draw attention away from her.

Almost as if on cue, the door of the club room opened and Miyako came in, trying to hide her bandaged hand, as she had all day. "Hello," she said awkwardly.

"Hey," Kai said. She would have to save her teasing for another time.

"How is Ayumi?" Kara asked. "I mean, hi."

Miyako's expression relaxed considerably. "She...I think we should probably all go and visit her. She isn't feeling very well, but I think you two can cheer her up. Wanna go?"

"Maybe tomorrow..." Kara said reluctantly. She perked up suddenly. "Hey, you guys know Possum's back, right?"

Kai and Miyako looked up in surprise. Possum Cade, Kara's roommate, had been missing since well before the festival; the teachers had said it was something to do with a medical condition, but nobody seemed to know just which medical condition it might be. Ayumi, ever one to love juicy gossip, had, of course, suggested pregnancy.

"How is she?" Miyako asked. "She wasn't in class today..."

Kara shrugged. "I don't know. The dorm mother came up and took some of her things on Tuesday; she said Possum needed a change of clothes."

Kai nodded. She knew the two American girls seemed to find a sense of comfort or familiarity in being in the same room, even though they had, by Kara's own embarrassed admission, absolutely nothing in common. Possum was from the south, Kara was from the midwest; Possum was friendly with everyone, Kara was a socially clueless girl who most people thought of as cold until they got to know her; Possum could fit in anywhere, Kara stuck out like a sore thumb. Still...whenever Kai found the need to go to Kara's room, the two of them were often there, a comfortable silence between them. She knew Possum's initial disappearance had been quite a shock to Kara; Kara obviously hadn't realized how important having someone else from the same culture had been to her until Possum was gone. Kai grinned; with Kara's bumbling social skills, she'd probably end up going overboard and lavish attention on Possum until the other girl couldn't take it anymore. 'Well...either that or be _way_ overprotective of her,' she thought. In any case, Kara could start to relax again; she didn't play bass very well when she was uptight...knowing the other girl like she did, Kai was surprised she had been able to play as well as she had with Dekopin Rocket up on stage at the festival the previous weekend. Kai's train of thought screeched to a halt. 'Wait a minute, Ayumi's been skipping school since the festival, when her idols took Kara up on stage with them...oh, oh wow.'

"Hey, Kara?" Kai said, coming back to the present.

"Hm?" Kara replied, holding a pick between her lips as she knelt down to plug her bass guitar into an amp.

"...nevermind," Kai said. Kara turned her attention back to the dials on her amp. 'I...don't know how to handle this,' Kai thought. She frowned. How did one deal with a girl with serious jealousy issues in a situation like this...? The only thing Kai knew was that she didn't have a clue; she had known Ayumi a long time, but she was terrible at dealing with her when Ayumi was moping around or feeling bitchy. To liken the girl to a minefield wasn't out of the question.

"Come on Kai; let's practice a little," Kara said as she stood up. "I want to practice playing with this," she said, holding out the guitar pick.

Kai looked up at Kara again, then over to Miyako, who had picked up the battered and stained, yet somehow still useable acoustic guitar Kara had spotted poking out of a dumpster some time before. Without Ayumi, their guitarist, someone had to fill in, no matter how bad they were; even though she screwed up almost every chord she tried to play, Miyako could at least keep proper time. Miyako slipped the guitar strap up over her head and smiled, and Kai couldn't help but grin crookedly at the other girl's enthusiasm. Say what she might about lack of guitar skills, the girl was trying hard to learn."Should you even be playing with your hand like that?" Kai asked, glancing down at the bandage wrapped around the palm of Miyako's left hand.

"It's okay if I don't move my wrist," Miyako said shyly.

"Okay then..." Kai sighed, picked up her drumsticks, and started the count. "One, two, one two three four..."

* * *

><p>A lone girl stood on the roof of the middle school, her eyes shut and her head held back at an angle.<p>

"I know this feeling," she murmured.

'_It's not as bad as all that; not yet. I should know, after all._'

The girl replied with a frown and turned in a slow circle, trying to ignore the mass of darkness in the building under her. That teacher...

"It could easily..." she said, drifting off as she felt something finally break over toward the distant dorm building that housed most of the middle school students, hidden from sight by trees and other buildings. "It's begun."

'_Oh hell,_' the other one said. '_Not again..._'

"In this case, yes," the girl said as she finally opened her eyes and looked around, finally focusing on a third source of darkness that had been growing in the distance off to the Northeast. "There is _that_, too; it's been getting closer. Things will become very unpleasant here, I think."

'_Don't let yourself get dragged into it_,' the other one said. '_You should just go somewhere else._'

"I won't," the girl replied. The other one wasn't sure if the girl was referring to the first suggestion or the second.

Images from the last time the girl had felt such a thing surfaced from her memory. _Broken bodies lying on the ground at the base of the wall, the wet and meaty _SPLAT _as another one landed... People she had known for years, their darkness overwhelming them... _She walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down at the ground far below, at the trees and bushes planted by the landscapers, the wide paved walkway leading up to the front of the school, the narrower sidewalks that ran around the school building and led off toward the gymnasium, the club building, and other places... she could almost _see_ how it would be. Her classmates...

Student Number Thirteen, Ono Ran, made an odd little smile. "I must prepare."

'_Be careful,_'the shadowy being Ran knew only as Kuroi Yuina said in her head.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Sorry this one took so long; I had problems dealing with Ayumi's breakdown and some pacing issues. Anyway, what's up with Ran? That was pretty violent of her, to hit Negi like that. But then again, what's up with Negi? And Ayumi! Oh wow, Ayumi. Yeah...not going to get into that at the moment. Seems like Yuuna's got some sort of issue with losing people too; didn't expect her to blow her top like that...maybe it's related to the time she spent traveling around the world after graduation...? Anyway, coming up next: A fight over who gets to train vampire-ish Possum?! Yuuna vs. Eva, next!_


	19. Ch 16 The Duel

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 16: The Duel**

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><p><em>Sunday, June 28th, 2009, The Third Day Of The Festival, Evening<em>

* * *

><p>Touno Daichi was a third-year student at the Mahora Boys' Middle School. A long time fan of good music and pretty girls, he had found the ideal combination of both in the form of a local band known as Dekopin Rocket. He was a huge fan of the band, but especially of Kakizaki Misa, the beautiful singer and lead guitarist. Sure, Ako was cute, Sakurako looked like a lot of fun, and Madoka was very, very cool, but Misa...he thought she was the perfect woman, and she had actually turned out to be one! He had actually met her once, just walking along the sidewalk...she had actually <em>smiled<em> at him! At _him_!He didn't hold any delusion about her even remembering that he existed, but he knew he loved her.

However, at the big yearly festival, when Dekopin Rocket came up on stage to play, something unusual had happened; instead of the regular lineup of Misa, Madoka, Ako, and Sakurako, Ako had been replaced by a new face, an American girl. He didn't quite understand why, but he had been drawn to her from the first instant he saw her. A quick glance at Misa as she spoke into the microphone had confirmed that she was still his favorite, but this new girl was...she was _enchanting_. Knowing he had to share this mysterious American beauty with the world, he took out his phone and recorded as much of the band's set as he could.

Later that night, when he got home, he transferred the recorded video to his computer and did a little editing. By midnight, it was uploaded to several video sites, and things went on from there.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday, July 5th, 2009, Evening<em>

* * *

><p>Jennifer Minindry, skilled mage and often-out-of-work part-timer, opened the door of the apartment she shared with Okochi Akira and fellow American and Mahora Middle School P.E. teacher Max Linell. She paused in the entryway to take off her shoes, idly noting that Akira's shoes were missing. Max's work boots were in their usual place off to the side, so she kicked off her shoes and pushed them over and out of the way, not really caring where they ended up. She could hear the television going...Max had probably fallen asleep on the couch again, she thought, making a catlike grin as she tiptoed into the kitchen with her grocery bags. She quickly put away anything that would spoil and made her way into the living room as quietly as she could. Sure enough, her roommate had fallen asleep on the couch, the stress and worry of the day gone from his face, leaving him looking almost innocent. Almost.<p>

Jennifer's catlike grin grew.

She made her way around to the front of the couch and knelt down there, propping her head on her hands as she looked at him. It was strange, she thought, how different he was when he was sleeping from how he was when he was awake. Awake, he terrified people simply by entering a room; he was extremely tall, especially here in Japan, and while he was far from fat and didn't have the build of somebody like that musclehead Cyrr guy who had been hanging around with Anya-chan since the festival, he was big enough to make two of Jennifer. That, combined with his gruff manner, pale skin, and messy black hair would scare off just about anyone who didn't know him...and, she admitted reluctantly, he looks were mostly definitely _not_ on the bishounen end of the spectrum.

'It's not fair,' she thought angrily as she watched him sleep. 'He's not a monster, he's just...' Her catlike grin returned. "You're just shy, aren't you?" she said, her voice low and husky. He shifted in his sleep and she moved to stand up, but it was too late; his hand found her wrist and closed over it. Jennifer's grin widened further still. "What the hell, why not?" she murmured in her native English before hopping up on the couch with him and snuggling in close. She let out a relaxed sigh as she put her arm around him. His arm went around her of its own accord, and she giggled as she buried her face in his chest. 'You know what else isn't fair?' she thought to herself. "I never get to do this while you're awake," she said quietly. Max's voice rumbled in reply, but she couldn't make out what he said, and he didn't repeat it. "Probably thinks I'm Akira-chan," she said in a teasing tone of voice. He hugged her a little more tightly, but didn't otherwise respond. "'Course, that's fine; Akira-chan's a good girl, I like her too." And she did; Jennifer liked Akira a _whole_ lot, or else she would never have suggested Akira move in with the two of them after her graduation. The girl had a bit of a jealousy problem, but the three of them could work on that...there was no need to be hasty about anything, after all. At first Max had been the only one, but then he had found Akira-chan, and...

Jennifer laid beside him for a few minutes before her thoughts turned from rosy and pleasant to something less so. There had been a phone call from one of the offices of the American division the other day... Jennifer's grin vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold stare. 'If they try to ruin this...' she thought, clinging to Max. 'If they hurt him again, like what happened with Rikki...'

"I'll kill them all," she murmured. Just then, Max began to stir and her expression flickered back once again to the contented catlike grin she had had earlier. She laid there beside him, happy to feel his warmth and his arm wrapped around her, until he abruptly stiffened, then relaxed half a second later. She had known him long enough to read his every move; he had been surprised to find someone on the couch with him, but had recognized her in an instant..."Heh, you're funny, Max-kuuun~" she said, playfully drawing out the honorific.

"Hey," he said, his deep, gravelly voice music to her ears. "What time is it?"

"Seven," Jennifer replied. "A little late for a nap, isn't it? Hmm~?" she said, still clinging to him.

"Let go, I need to get up."

Jennifer grinned. "Make me."

Max heaved a sigh and sat up; Jennifer took the opportunity to wrap both arms around him as she slid easily onto his lap. He ran a hand through his hair to get it to lay flat, but it only stuck up even more.

"Heh~ nice bed head you've got going there," she said wryly. "Where's Akira-chan?"

Max frowned and Jennifer's grin shrunk a little. 'What happened...?' she wondered. If she knew anything about the way Akira had been behaving lately, then it was probably-

"She went to visit that Ava woman again," Max said, glancing around the apartment as he shook off the final vestiges of sleep.

It was as she had thought; Jennifer frowned at that. 'That Ava Woman', as Max called her, had tried to attack him the first time they met...had maybe even tried to kill him. Jennifer didn't like her at all, but Akira-chan...

Akira-chan seemed to have taken a liking to her. Enough of a liking to visit her every day in the hospital, even, while she recovered from malnutrition, influenza, and the thousand small cuts and bruises she had picked up before arriving in Mahora. It was enough to make a person sick!

Jennifer rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I really need to get up," Max said.

Jennifer only clung more tightly to him and refused to get out of his lap. "Make me~" she said again, and stuck her tongue out. To her glee, Max sighed and stood up, taking her with him. He quickly pried her loose, however, and dropped her on the couch.

"Hey...!"

"You asked for it," he said as he stretched to loosen his joints after his long nap on the couch.

"Did you know Konoka-chan is offering protection to some of those youkai that caused such a problem the other day?" Jennifer said after a moment.

"Really?" Max asked as he twisted from side to side and finally bent over backward, looking at Jennifer upside down. His back popped and he made a sigh of contentment as he straightened up again.

"Really," Jennifer said, unable to keep from smiling at him. "It's two fox youkai brothers. Apparently they got in trouble with somebody dangerous and she decided to take them in."

"So that makes four of 'em now, doesn't it," he replied. Konoka seemed to be trying to build a small army, the way she was recruiting...

Jennifer nodded. "Yeah, with those two cat youkai..."

Max grunted. He had saved the life of the eldest of 'those two cat youkai', Yagi Kichirou. Kichirou's little sister Ryoko had lavished attention upon him for _weeks_ afterward...it had all been very annoying.

"How's Setsuna handling-"

Max's question was quickly forgotten when Akira opened the door and stepped inside the apartment, followed by a robed figure.

Jennifer's curious gaze sharpened as it went from Akira's apologetic expression to the shadows hiding the robed figure's face. She heard Max heave a long-suffering sigh, and looked back at Akira. "You didn't." It wasn't a question.

Akira didn't seem able to meet her eyes. "Well..."

"Akira..." Max said, sounding tired even though he had just woken up from a nap.

Akira sighed. "I couldn't just let her sleep out on the street," she said. She looked like she felt guilty about inviting what amounted to a stranger to live with them. "I'm not going to just let her go homeless."

"Of course not," Max said, clearly irritated at the newcomer's presence nonetheless.

"And, well..." Akira said, trailing off as she again looked away. "I feel like I'm responsible for her..."

Jennifer looked from Akira's face to the hooded woman and then down her arm to where she was clinging to Akira's hand. She stalked toward the hooded figure, which backed away a step before moving to hide behind Akira. "You said your name was 'Ava', correct?"

The robed figure nodded even as it shrunk a little further behind Akira.

Jennifer sighed and looked back at Max. "You aren't going to kiss this one too, are you?" she asked, deadpan.

Max looked away, his face a mask. "..."

"I couldn't hear you?"

He heaved a sigh and looked at the wall as he spoke. "Yuuna and Makie were for pactios, you know that," he grumbled.

Jennifer just looked at him.

"And you know all about Akira."

Jennifer just kept looking.

"And the rest."

"..."

"Look, I'm sorry alright? It's not like I kissed them all for no reason!"

Jennifer just _looked _at him. "Oh?"

Max looked back at her defensively. "Yeah."

"Well that's okay then~" Jennifer said happily, suddenly smiling as she cocked her head cutely to the side.

"Fufufu." Everyone looked at Ava as she tried to muffle her laughter behind Akira.

Max sighed and rolled his eyes. "Is the couch okay for now? We don't have any spare bedrooms."

Ava pulled back her hood and smiled hesitantly, and nodded. "I...I think I understand why Akira-sama likes you two so much."

* * *

><p><em>Monday, July 6th, 2009, After School<em>

* * *

><p>"This'll be great!" Yuuna said as she strolled right into Eva's house without even bothering to knock and headed for the stairway that led to the basement. "Heya Chachamaru!" she said, waving to the robot girl in the main room as she headed down the stairs without waiting for a reply.<p>

"Are you sure about this? I mean..." Possum hesitated to continue as she followed along behind Yuuna. She spared a distracted nod for Chachamaru, who made a short bow in return, and followed Yuuna down the stairs. When the two of them were again alone, standing before the series of glass spheres and tubes that made up Eva's resort, she spoke up again. "I mean, I'm a, I-I'm a..."

"A vampire?" Yuuna said helpfully. "Well, remember what that guy from the U.K. said: we don't know _what_ you are. You resisted it somehow, right? So that means you're something different, a _new_ kind of vampire, or maybe not even a vampire at all! Of course, you can always _try_ being like Eva, but I don't think you've got it in you to be an evil overlord~"

Possum looked away and shuffled her feet, unsure of what to say. Sure, the vampire expert the headmaster had had flown in from the U.K. had _said _she wasn't a vampire, but did that mean she really wasn't one? Or, to be more precise, he had said she wasn't any sort of vampire he had ever heard of before, which, admittedly, she didn't find particularly reassuring. How many kinds of vampires were out there, after all? Still, though...it was _something_.

"Okay, here...we..._go!_" Yuuna said excitedly as the magic gate to Eva's resort activated and transported the two of them to the entry platform.

When the dizziness from the teleportation had ended, Possum looked around absently. As expected, they were alone in the entry area but for one of Chachamaru's sisters, who was sweeping around the front door of Eva's private castle. When she noticed Possum looking at her, she bowed briefly and resumed her work.

"C'mon, let's go to the practice range and see if you've got any more power than you had before," Yuuna said excitedly. "Got your wand?"

Possum nodded as she shrugged off the small backpack she had taken to carrying everywhere with her. Her conjure bag, made of red flannel to replace the one whose power the vampire Jonus Hart had destroyed by rummaging around in it, simply wasn't able to give her enough of an edge, so she decided she needed something to hold everything Possum had figured she would need...the type of magic she was learning in Mahora, she had discovered, required more than a few powders or oils or herbs like the hoodoo she was familiar with. The magic wand alone, solid black and with a shape on the end that looked like the 'Spade' suite of cards, was as long as her forearm...not the sort of thing one could put in a conjure bag hidden under a uniform skirt. She pulled out the wand to show Yuuna she still had it, then put it back in and zipped her backpack shut.

"That's good," Yuuna said, her smile wide and friendly and that same devilish flare that made Possum grin in her eyes. Possum knew she herself showed that same flare from time to time; it was likely what had drawn Yuuna's attention to her in the first place...as aggravating and crazy as she could be at times, Akashi Yuuna was a kindred spirit. "Come on!"

* * *

><p>The firing range was much as Possum remembered it; not much had changed in the few weeks she had been gone. She followed along as Yuuna led the way and dropped her own pack on one of the many tables that had been put there for just such a purpose. Possum followed suit and put her backpack on the table next to Yuuna's, opened it, and began rummaging around inside. She hadn't had a chance to clean it out since before she was kidnapped...she pulled out her wand and paused for a moment when she spotted her mini photo album. She hesitated a moment, shooting a quick glance over at Yuuna, who appeared to be busy laying out a variety of items on her table, and picked up the photo album. It was just a small thing she had picked up for a few bucks back in the U.S. before coming to Japan, but... She flipped it open and couldn't help but smile at the first picture, one of her and Taro she had taken right after their first meeting. She grinned more widely as she realized how young Taro—how young the both of them—looked. The picture was only a couple years old, but still...Taro's surprised, wary, but above all <em>embarrassed<em> expression in the picture was absolutely _hilarious_...! She flipped through a few pages of pictures, most of them recording her first meetings with her classmates and the many, many friends she had made since coming to Mahora. There was Kara, happy to meet another girl from the U.S. even though they had nothing in common; there was Ichigo-san, the lady who ran the flower shop downtown, there was Keiji, the tech guy from the guitar shop she liked to kill time in sometimes; there was Jirou, the hotheaded guy who loved to fight, but was nevertheless fun to spend time around; and here was another picture of Taro, her hair all a mess as she sat on the floor, playing a videogame in what looked like a pair of boxer shorts and a threadbare t-shirt. Possum smirked. Taro would flip out if she knew she had a picture of her like this...! It had been a long time since she last saw Taro, or just about anyone else in any of the pictures, and now that she was like _this_...

"Heh, cute," Yuuna said, looking over her shoulder.

Possum flipped the photo album shut and stuffed it back into her bag. "...don't tell her I have that picture, okay?" she said hesitantly as she looked down at her bag.

"Sure," Yuuna said, agreeably enough. "Of course, you've got to beat me first~ How else are you going to-"

"_Hey_!"

Yuuna and Possum whirled to face the newcomer; that shout had _not _been pleasant.

Eva stood there, Chachamaru beside her. She sent a chilling glare at Possum, then spoke to Yuuna. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Possum had to give it to Yuuna: she had all but shriveled up at Eva's glare, but Yuuna stood tall and glared back as if she was facing a mere rival rather than an ancient vampire capable of tearing her apart in seconds.

"What you do mean, what am I doing? I'm taking my student out for some testing before I get back to training her," Yuuna said. Once again, Possum was reminded of the glare she had seen Yuuna give to poor Ayumi the other day in the stairwell, when Yuuna thought Ayumi had pushed Possum down the stairs.

Eva glared back and took a step forward; Possum couldn't help but notice that Chachamaru was starting to look nervous. "She's not your student anymore, Akashi. She's mine, now."

Yuuna stiffened up at that and clenched her fists hard enough to make her knuckles go white. "You are _not_ taking her away from me...!" she growled out through clenched teeth.

Possum took a hesitant step back, and then another as she looked back and forth between the two. She realized Yuuna was holding her wand in one clenched fist, while Eva was starting to grin that same grin she had only seen a couple times before, when someone had had the temerity to do something incredibly stupid in front of her. "U-um...let's not-"

Eva silenced her with a glare, then focused her attention back on Yuuna. "You aren't capable of training her, not now."

Yuuna locked eyes with Eva and stood her ground, a feat Possum had never seen in her admittedly short time being involved in magical matters in Mahora. Possum herself couldn't stand to meet Eva's gaze for more than a second or two when even when she wasn't angry, and even Sachiko couldn't do it for more than then ten seconds or so... Possum watched nervously as the seconds stretched on to minutes, with neither Eva nor Yuuna showing the slightest sign of weakness.

Such a stalemate had to end at some point; luckily, it didn't continue for long. Chachamaru, feeling the need to dissipate the rising tension between the two, decided to speak up.

"Master, perhaps we should involve Negi-sensei in this matter; I am sure he could-"

Eva took her attention off of Yuuna, opened her mouth to speak to Chachamaru, and was interrupted by an open-hand slap.

A shocked silence fell over the firing range as Chachamaru and Possum looked on in shock at Eva, who just stood there, staring blankly out into space, her eyes wide in confusion and surprise as her cheek slowly turned red. She slowly reached up and laid a hand on her cheek, lowered it, and let out a roar as she whirled on Yuuna, a jagged ice spike forming around her hand as she swung it at Yuuna's head. Yuuna raised her own hand to ward off the blow, and the two impacted an instant later with an explosion that sent Possum and Chachamaru both scrambling back out of the dust cloud.

Silence again descended over the firing range as the dust cleared, revealing Eva and Yuuna facing each other, their arms still up in the position they had been before.

"A burst of magic power timed to disrupt the force of the attack; dangerous, but clever," Eva said, her voice dangerously quiet. "Not too long ago, I wouldn't have stopped at just that, you know," she said, barely able to hold back as it was. Her time with Negi had changed her far more than she liked to admit, even to herself; the changes, indeed, were far reaching...as she learned anew every time she passed up a likely victim or a chance to cause mischief.

"You are _not_ taking Possum from me," Yuuna repeated.

"Tell me why I shouldn't," Eva retorted, their gazes still locked.

Yuuna didn't seem to have a ready answer for that; instead, she started to grin. It was not a pleasant grin, in Possum's opinion. "I challenge you."

Possum blinked.

Chachamaru blinked.

Eva blinked. "...what?"

Yuuna stood up a little straighter, that rebellious flare returning to her eyes. "I challenge you to a duel for the right to train Possum," she said.

Eva just _looked_ at her. "...are you crazy? Wait, no, you already proved that when you _slapped_ me. What makes you think I won't just tear you limb from limb right here?" she asked, her expression rather bored. "I could do it easily."

Yuuna shook her head, finally breaking eye contact, but on her own terms rather than being forced to by Eva. "You could...but you won't. I can tell; you want to see what I've got up my sleeve."

Eva stood there for a moment, one eyebrow cocked as she watched the woman standing opposite. She let out a sigh and finally relaxed, showing the most intrigued expression Possum had ever seen her make. "Some idiot comes along every thirty years or so, thinking they can beat me; no one has managed it yet. Fine then; I accept your challenge. I suppose there are some conditions you had in mind?"

Yuuna smiled, her normal gaiety returned. "Yep. First! The duel will be in a field of my choosing. Second! To keep this interesting, there will be no flight, and no wide-area spells allowed, so no freezing the entire field, okay Eva-chan?" Yuuna said, winking at the vampire girl for all the world as if she hadn't just challenged a High Daylight Walker to a duel. "Third! All I need to win is to land a clean hit to your face; for you to win, you have to take...uh...this," she said, holding up a keyring, "from my pocket," Yuuna said, putting the keyring into the front left pocket of her shorts. "Oh, and please abide by the spirit of the rules and don't try to look for loopholes, okay?"

Eva snorted and shook her head in amusement. "Fine, it's your funeral. I agree."

"Oh, there was one more thing," Yuuna said, smiling. "Let's get the others to come~"

* * *

><p><em>Monday, July 6th, 2009, Evening<em>

* * *

><p>Negi looked out over the gathering crowd nervously; there were <em>dozens <em>of old friends and old students, along with everyone else. "I am _really_ not happy with this..." he said.

Asuna elbowed him in the ribs even as she carefully noted the bags under his eyes and his pale complexion. '_He's been looking pretty rough lately,' _Asuna thought. '_I need to distract him, make him relax...'_ Luckily for Asuna, there was the perfect source of distraction practically staring her in the face. "Aw c'mon, don't you want to see what Yuuna's up to? It's been a long time since I've really seen her in action, you know. Since before we all graduated..." Negi and Asuna paused a moment as they recalled some of Yuuna's more...notable antics. "They never did figure out how she made that roach so big," Asuna said after a moment.

Negi nodded at the...rather tiring memory. Whatever else Yuuna might be, she sure was _different _in her manner of doing...pretty much anything, especially magic; she had given the local magic associations fits for almost three years while she was in high school. It wasn't until she had gone on her tour of the world after she graduated that life in Mahora had returned to something like normal, even with the near-monthly attacks by all manner of rogue mages, monsters, and villains of every stripe. Wherever Yuuna went, zany schemes and excitement were sure to follow. "I hope she doesn't hurt herself..." He didn't mention what Eva would almost certainly do to her; he couldn't bear thinking about it...he leaned back against a wall tiredly.

"Well that's what Konoka's here for," Asuna said excitedly as she looked at the series of videoscreens Kazumi had set up. Most of them showed similar scenery: tree tops from above with hints of water or mud beneath, reflecting light back up at Kazumi's pactio cameras as they moved into place before descending through the forest canopy to the lower reaches of the swamp. Two screens, however, showed a different view.

* * *

><p>Eva looked back irritably at the camera drone hovering behind her. "Is it time yet? I want to finish this quickly so I can have my afternoon tea."<p>

_'Not yet, Eva-chan; the drones are still moving into place,' _Kazumi replied from her place of safety back in Eva's castle. Eva felt her eye start to twitch. 'Show a little respect, you brat,' she thought idly as she glanced out over what little she could see of the field Yuuna had chosen. "The swamp..." she said aloud. Sure, it wasn't her most dangerous training area, but she supposed she really should give the girl a hand; she had chosen well. The majority of areas in her resort tended to have lots of big, open spaces, which would lead to a quick bombardment of magic arrows as soon as she caught sight of Yuuna. There were a few other areas with as little visibility as this one, but she knew Yuuna had spent a lot of time training Possum Cade—no, she was _The Girl_ now, just...The Girl—here...it was like home ground to her.

'_Okay Eva-chan, it's almost time. Are you ready?'_ Kazumi asked through the mental network Nodoka had set up. Eva glanced around the small clearing she was standing in one last time, and nodded. '_Okay, good. Yuuna's ready too. Remember the rules: no flying, no area effect spells, abide the spirit of the rules, not necessarily the word. Okay, five seconds. Three, two, one. Start!'_

* * *

><p>Possum bit her lip nervously as she looked up at the screens and the countdown shown in big numbers on each of them. Each one showed a different area of the swamp training area...she realized with a start that she recognized every one of them from all the time she had spent training there with Yuuna. Speaking of which... She looked at the screen from Yuuna's personal camera drone. Her trainer looked relaxed and content, taking the time to go through a series of warmup stretches as if she wasn't about to risk her life in a match against the single scariest person Possum had ever met. She glanced at the screen showing the view from Evangeline's personal camera drone, and shivered. The vampire just looked bored as she turned and glared back at the screen for a moment.<p>

Possum stuffed her hands into her pockets to give them something to do while she waited, watching nervously. The events of the next few minutes would decide some very important things about her future...she reached up and rubbed her nose, a nervous habit she had had since childhood. She was about to stick her hand back into her pocket when someone grabbed it.

"Hey, Possum. It's been a while," Urashima Taro said from beside her, looking up at the screens.

"Yeah," Possum said, thankful for the contact and Taro's presence. She had been worried about that...she had not yet met up with anyone from her class or anyone she knew apart from Yuuna, Negi-sensei, and several of the women she had seen training in Eva's resort from time to time. How her friends would react to...to what she had become... her fears almost didn't bear thinking about. It seemed Taro, at least, still liked her. "Thanks."

"Yeah," Taro said, standing beside her as the countdown on the screen reached zero. Possum looked up at Yuuna's screen just in time to see her hold up a small device, make a 'V' with her fingers, and press a button.

The explosion made both of them jump.

* * *

><p>Eva blinked and tried to wave the swirling dust away as she sat up.<p>

"Well _that_ was unexpected," she said to herself as she stood up and looked over at the crater where she had been standing seconds before. Planting a bomb at Eva's starting area had been unexpected, true; but it was also short sighted. What was the point? Yuuna's objective wasn't to blow her up, Eva thought as she started forward, it was to—

_*click*_

* * *

><p>"Ooh, that one was pretty bad," Asuna said, wincing as Eva stepped on a land mine and went flying, only to land on a second one, which blasted her into a tree.<p>

"What..." Negi said, his inexplicably growing exhaustion over the past week temporarily forgotten as he watched the screen, unable to articulate his thoughts as Eva fell out of the tree and landed on a third landmine. "But, that, I mean...what?" he tried again. He had never seen anything like this before...he figured probably no one had. The sheer _strangeness_ of the situation was enough to temporarily drag him out of the funk he had been in. It was pretty weird to see Evangeline A.K. McDowell, high daylight walker, The Apostle of Destruction, the Dark Evangel, the Tidings of Evil and so on and so forth, being such a sport about it too.

"I must admit, I would have expected her to break the 'no flying' rule by this point," Asuna said, wincing again as Eva hit yet another mine and was sent flying through a method she normally would have avoided.

"She sealed her flying ability—Oooh, that's _gotta_ hurt," Misa said nearby as Eva somehow managed to land on two mines at the same time. "See that dark band around her arm? It's like that time you sealed your magic, Negi-kun," she said, pointing at one of the screens.

"Wow, I wouldn't have expected her to go that far," Asuna said, peering at the magically created tattoo-like marking.

Misa shook her head. "It's not _that_ big of a deal; she said flying comes so naturally to her that she might start doing it without even realizing it and get disqualified. And besides, if she wants to, she can just overpower the seal and break it that way."

Asuna grinned. "Sounds like she was looking forward to this."

Misa grinned in response. "Definitely! She wouldn't shut up about it when I had her help me iron out the details of a new spell I've been working on earlier. She's curious about what Yuuna's got in mind."

"I hope Yuuna doesn't disappoint her," Negi said solemnly.

* * *

><p>When the last of the mines had been detonated, Eva stood up silently and looked down at her burnt and ruined clothes, a sneer marring her features. She raised her hand and wordlessly called her shadow cloak into being wrapped around her shoulders, and started off down the trail, her eyes taking in everything as she went. '<em>I didn't expect that,'<em> she thought, a little pleased as she spotted another hidden landmine and stepped around it. '_Akashi Yuuna has actually managed to surprise me...I'm impressed. I'll be more impressed if she survives. I hope she's more inventive than to rely on only bombs, though..._'

Eva began to smile. Then her curiosity was answered as she stepped on a hidden pressure plate and a giant log slammed into her from the side.

* * *

><p>"Ooh, looks like that one <em>had<em> to hurt," Taro said, watching Eva pull herself back up. The vampire girl promptly stepped deep into sucking mud, losing a shoe as she pulled her foot back out. She didn't bother digging for it; instead, she pulled off her other shoe and tossed it away, evidently deciding to continue on barefoot.

"The log? Yeah," Possum said absently as she watched Eva make her way over a fallen tree whose trunk was easily four feet wide, and promptly fall into a sticker bush hidden from sight on the other side.

They watched as a branch Eva grabbed to help her balance as she walked along another, far more narrow tree trunk a moment later, abruptly snapped, dropping her head first into the scummy black water below. She popped up a moment later, her head covered in thick black mud from the bottom, her long hair and clothing soaked and dirty.

"She's...probably not going to be very happy about that," Taro said, wincing again as a great sheet of bark slid off the tree trunk as Eva tried to pull herself up out of the water, dropping her back in and showering her with dirt, rotten bark, and bugs. "Man, that Yuuna sure is going all out with all the traps, isn't she?"

Possum looked at Taro. "Huh?"

Taro glanced at her, then back at the screen. "I mean, with those bombs and the log, and then the thorn bush and the mud and the bark just now, how did she know Eva would go that way?"

Possum just blinked at her for a moment before she realized Taro had probably never spent much time in a swamp before. She looked back up at the screen. "Those aren't traps, that's just the swamp; the only traps she triggered were the bombs and the flying log trap; she hasn't gotten anywhere near the _real_ traps..."

Taro looked at her friend for a moment. She could buy that thorn bushes and rotten branches would probably occur naturally in a location like the swamp environment of Eva's resort, but Possum didn't consider bombs or a giant log flying into you from the side to be 'real' traps...? What kind of training was Yuuna making her _do_?!

* * *

><p>Eva, scowling, wet, and bedraggled, walked up out of the water, reached up into the back of her shirt, and pulled out a wriggling larva of some burrowing insect she didn't recognize; she figured it had come from under the tree bark when it fell on her head. She flicked the larva away and paused to take a look around, Kazumi's camera drone floating silently behind her.<p>

"It appears I am going about this the wrong way," she said aloud as she stood at the edge of the water. For almost as long as she could remember, she had always powered through anything that crossed her path; she had plowed right through vampire hunters and wild beasts and flown over dangerous or unpleasant terrain, but this duel was rapidly beginning to show her something she hadn't thought about since before she gained even the power of flight: powering through wasn't always the right answer. She had known it of course; she wasn't a fool...but she had gotten away with it for so long and it worked so damn _well _when she did it that she had grown used to it. Even during her time trapped under Nagi's curse in Mahora, she had ignored it, mostly on the basis that once the spell was broken, she'd have as much power as she could ever want.

_Power..._ She had it, and Yuuna didn't, not compared to her. What Yuuna _did_ have was a devious mind that looked at the world from a different angle than most people. For that simple fact, Eva had long ago decided not to kill her, but to try and point her in a different direction and see what she would come up with. Yuuna had always been a lunatic, and a lunatic was always able to provide a fresh perspective; a lunatic could keep you on your toes, even if you had centuries of experience on her. Eva took a moment to try and pick out Yuuna's magical signature, a skill she had long ago picked up and all but forgotten about, but, as expected, the overwhelming magical energy of her resort and especially this life-filled swamp area drowned out the crazy woman's presence; no doubt just as Yuuna had planned.

Eva stepped away from the water. Yes, it was time to start looking at things from a different perspective; perhaps, she thought as she walked along, it was time to—

*_snap_*

Eva fell into the cleverly hidden spike pit.

* * *

><p>A startled silence fell over the crowd watching the screens.<p>

"Is she..."

"The spikes, they're..."

"She's not, she can't be...!"

"She's not dead," Misa said confidently as she watched the screen, a knowing smirk on her face. "I've seen worse."

Sure enough, Eva's hand twitched and everyone sighed in relief.

"See? You can't kill Eva with a trap of that level," Misa said, looking as if she had accomplished something herself.

A moment later, Eva had extricated herself from the spike pit, her clothing now even more tattered and shredded than before along with the addition of quite a few blood stains, though her wounds had healed almost instantly.

"You know..." Asuna said thoughtfully, "this is the most damage I've ever seen any one person manage. Ever."

Madoka snorted in amusement from her place beside Misa. "Heh, ain't _that_ right." Madoka had been the previous record holder due to a freak accident during training that had blasted the vampire girl almost in half; Madoka had been forced to run for her life and hide behind _everybody else_ to keep Eva from killing her. Even then, the only reason she hadn't died was because Eva's rage had run out and she had gotten bored plowing through the dozens of girls defending Madoka at the time.

"Konoka's around, right?" Madoka asked, suddenly worrying for Yuuna's safety when Eva eventually caught up to her. A quick glance at Yuuna's screen showed her yawning as she sat on a fallen log and idly kicked her feet.

"I'm here!" Konoka said.

* * *

><p>Eva climbed out of the pit and took a moment to force back her unquenchable rage. That done, she took a good, long look around her.<p>

"Akashi Yuuna..." she said aloud. A spike pit? Really? Did those ever work on _anyone_? She sighed in irritation. Of course they worked; she had just proven it herself.

"I have become complacent," she murmured as she scanned her surroundings. Visibility was roughly thirty feet; trees, bushes, and vines and hanging moss were everywhere, and one wrong step would sink a person into a bog up to their armpits...and then there were the creatures that lived here. Eva was suddenly glad she hadn't brought any alligators in when creating this particular training environment. There were snakes though, as well as any number of insects making a great deal of noise. The whole place stunk like rotting vegetation, while the forest canopy blocked a great deal of sunlight.

Eva made a slow smile. "A perfect place for a predator."

She moved carefully forward carefully, more like a big cat than a heard of buffalo the way she had before. She stepped on something that made a metallic click, and dove out of the way as another log swung down in near-silence, ready to smash any body it came into contact with.

Eva rolled to the side and came up in a crouch, looking, trying to see just what it was that had triggered the trap. It took her a moment to spot it, but there it was, hidden among the dirt and fallen leaves: the merest hint of something that didn't belong in a natural place, a straight line. Now that she had spotted it, she could see the pin that had fallen loose when she triggered the trap, too. Yuuna had taken the time to camouflage it very well, and it had paid off. Now, how to find the next trap? There were—Eva froze in place.

_Movement in the trees off to the left. _

Something took off running through the woods, so Eva gave chase, running on a course parallel to the mysterious person. _Mysterious person my ass,_ Eva thought. _Akashi Yuuna...!_

The movement she was chasing abruptly stopped, and Eva realized an instant too late that it was a trap. A metallic _clink_ from under her foot warned her an instant before a series of pointed, foot-wide poles fell from somewhere high above with enough force to bury their tips deep into the ground. Eva scrambled out of the way just in time, only to get nailed in the arm by what looked for all the world like a crossbow bolt. She hissed in pain; it was coated in holy water and a smear of paste mixed with garlic. She yanked it out and tossed it aside, ducked another bolt, and slipped around behind a tree.

Eva couldn't stop grinning. So Yuuna had finally decided to show herself, did she? Interesting timing, though Eva would have waited a little longer if she had been in Yuuna's position...wait.

She risked a peek around the side of the tree, and narrowly missed getting a new nose piercing via crossbow bolt.

She caught some more movement off to her right, and frowned as she worked out where to go next. While she didn't _think_ Yuuna would bring others in to help her, she wouldn't put it past her. In fact-

A crossbow bolt in the shoulder cut that thought off halfway. Eva swore under her breath as she broke from hiding and came face to face with something that looked more like a giant walking pile of weeds than a person. Recognizing the ghillie suit for what it was, she swatted the person aside, and was rewarded with an explosion that knocked her off her feet.

"What the f-"

Seven more ghillie-suited beings emerged from the trees around her and rushed straight at her. Eva rushed to meet them and buried a fist in the first one's stomach; it, like the other one, exploded, throwing her back. The remaining ones were on her an instant later.

The explosion sent a fireball up through the forest canopy.

* * *

><p>"Holy..." someone said nearby.<p>

"Did you see that? Where did they all come from?"

"They were magical constructs, surely...?"

"So that's what she wanted them for," Setsuna said to herself.

"Hm?" Asuna asked, glancing at the other woman.

"Shikigami," Setsuna explained. "Paper golems, remember? Several weeks ago, Yuuna told me she wanted some to experiment with, so I gave her a dozen or so. They normally aren't so...so..."

"Explosive?" Asuna supplied.

"Explosive," Setsuna confirmed, nodding. "She must have found some way of modifying them, though that's extremely dangerous..."

Setsuna and Asuna paused, thinking back to the many, many crazy stunts Yuuna had pulled back in high school, and looked at each other.

"She modified them."

"Probably figured out how to overload them or something."

They watched Eva's smoke-filled screen for a moment, then looked over at Yuuna's screen, where she still sat on the log, grinning as she made a 'V' at Kazumi's camera drone.

"...you don't think she figured out how to make her own shikigami, do you?" Asuna asked after a long, long moment. Another, more horrible thought left her pale and short of breath. "You...you don't think she could figure out how to use them to make fictional characters, do you? Like...like from videogames?"

Setsuna's naturally pale skin paled further as she recalled certain games she had heard Yuuna talking about lately... She felt herself start to go faint as she contemplated upon what horrors she might have unintentionally released upon the world. "...I was hoping you wouldn't ask that."

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>For the horde...!<strong>_"

As she dragged herself back upright, Eva looked up sharply toward the direction from which the warcry had come. That couldn't have been...could it?

It was.

Garrosh Hellscream, in all his orcish glory, burst through the smoke, swinging two axes as he let out a roar.

"I never liked World of Warcraft," Eva said, then slipped under his wild swing and sliced him in half. Naturally, both halves exploded before they could hit the ground, sending Eva flying yet again. She barely had time to stand up before a figure in white appeared, carrying a white staff with a curved gold-colored head. Eva recognized the woman and blasted her with an ice spear before she had time to charge up her beam attack.

"Befriended—urk!"

Eva darted away as the woman exploded, only to come face to face with a hulking blueish-gray alien monstrosity with freakishly separated mandibles.

"Pew pew pew!" it said, firing its plasma rifle. Eva blasted it as well and zipped past, only to be brought up short yet again, this time by a warrior in blue armor with a sword and two curving horns on his helmet. Eva blasted him point-blank and jumped backward, propelled by the blast as he exploded.

She paused in a half-crouch, ready to move if any more enemies decided to show themselves. None did.

"Shikigami?" she said to herself as she slipped up to stand beside a tree trunk, taking the time to repair her shadow cloak as she surveyed her surroundings. There was no sign of those who had attacked her save for a few scorched spots on the ground and a handful of shreds of paper. The first ones, the ones wearing ghillie suits, had been bad enough, but if Yuuna had figured out how to make actual, working shikigami of _fictional characters_, then-

"_**LAZOR! BWAAAAH...!**_"

Eva darted aside just in time to avoid a brilliant beam of blue-white energy that blasted through the tree she had been hiding behind. She hurled an ice spear in the direction the beam had come from, and was rewarded with a "Bwaaaa-ark!" and another explosion.

She slipped behind a large tree and froze in place, again extending her senses. "...too much interference," she said, her lips twitching upward into a crooked half-smile. With so much magical interference, she couldn't even detect a shikigami...oh well. She continued on.

* * *

><p>"...huh?" Asuna said, summing up the previous sixty seconds for just about everyone present.<p>

"Bwahaha! That was _hilarious_!" Haruna said, unable to contain herself. "'Befriended'! _Bwa_hahahaha! And then, and then 'Pew pew pew'! Oh, oh! And then '_**LAZOR**_'!" Haruna said, doing a credible imitation of the ridiculous voice in question. "Oh wow, that was just, it was just pure genius! _Genius_!"

"Um, what?" Misa said.

"Hahahaha! Oh wow!"

"Yeah...I think someone needs to take Haruna somewhere where she can lie down for a while," Asuna said after a moment.

* * *

><p>Eva continued on, having made short work of a fat Italian plumber, a green dinosaur wearing a saddle, some weirdo she didn't recognize who kept screaming "<em>ICE CAR!"<em>, and a big pink ball with a smiley face that tried to eat her. Naturally, all had fallen with ease. And exploded. Shikigami and other golems were always such a pain...if the one making them had enough power, it was easy to make dozens upon dozens of them in a very short time. Usually, they were based on the creator or some sort of animal, but, as Eva had learned to her regret, when dealing with Akashi Yuuna, one had best not expect the usual. '_At least they're all low quality,'_ she thought to herself as she walked along until her left leg suddenly sunk hip-deep in an unexpectedly boggy patch of ground, .

Eva, tired of wandering through the swamp, bug bitten, gritty with dirt and soot, and in general pissed off, dragged herself out of the mud again and plodded onward. A ten foot tall red ogre with a club and a horn in the middle of its forehead came through the trees running at her, but it was only a little tougher than the rest; it didn't explode until it had hit the ground with an ice spike through its head. She walked through the smoke and slapped aside the miniature twenty foot tall Godzilla waiting for her on the other side, ignoring the explosion it made as well. She paused to let the smoke dissipate. "...I'm tired of this."

She looked around again. "Akashi Yuuna! Quit wasting my time! Come out!"

She waited a long moment while silence, or whatever was left of silence after the multitude of insects were through with it, permeated the swamp. The not-silence was broken a moment later.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Eva's right eye twitched. That overly theatrical laugh...

"Are you having fun yet?"

Eva's eye continued to twitch. Akashi Yuuna was clever, very clever. She seemed to think of everything; she had even somehow masked her voice so Eva couldn't determine which direction it was coming from.

"How do you like the mud? The bugs? Can't neglect that twenty foot line of sight! Oh, and how do you like my little friends?"

As soon as Yuuna asked that last question, a dozen other characters from who knew what burst out of the bushes or jumped out of trees and rushed at Eva from all directions. Eva lashed out all around her with a flurry of ice shards; the explosions of their own allies took care of those few shikigami who survived her attack.

The sound of someone doing a slow clap came from behind her. Eva whirled, preparing an extra barrier as she did, just in case it was necessary.

It wasn't. Yuuna just stood there, grinning in that infuriating way she had that seemed calculated to drive Eva up a wall.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Eva demanded, her irritation coming through clearly in her tone.

"He~h, wouldn't you like to know?" Yuuna replied, winking at her.

"..." Eva quickly looked to both sides, then turned to look behind her, just in time. She narrowly managed to avoid the jaws of the Tyrannosaurus Rex that had somehow crept up behind her, and jumped backward in an attempt to quickly open some space between herself and the behemoth. Unfortunately, it was far more nimble than its large size had led her to believe; it went right after her, roaring as it came. It lunged at her again, not unlike a heron going after a fish. Eva set herself and punched it right in the nose. The blast ripped the top of its head off, and the whole thing promptly exploded, blowing away her barrier and sending her into a short flight that ended abruptly when she bounced off of a tree. She was up on her feet again an instant later, her mind racing. _'Shikigami? But __it was huge...! To create a shikigami of that size would require—'_ The sight of Yuuna rushing in for the kill forced her to focus on the present threat rather than the absurdity of a shikigami that was fifteen feet tall and fifty feet long. There was no time to call up any of her usual spells, so she took a page from Yuuna's book and pumped magical energy into her fist even as she moved it to block the irritating woman's incoming attack.

Yuuna slapped her fist aside and tackled Eva to the ground, taking her by complete surprise.

Eva let out a grunt as she landed on a hard tree root hidden in the mud and muck, and tried to push Yuuna off. The woman was agile as a monkey; it was all Eva could do just to grab hold of her as the two of them wrestled in the muck until she managed to grab a handful of hair almost by accident. Ever one to take advantage of whatever luck she got, Eva hauled off and punched Yuuna in the face. The woman let out a cry and fell over backward, and Eva was up and on her before she could recover, burying her hands in the pockets of the woman's shorts.

"Where is it?" Eva demanded when she couldn't find Yuuna's keys. "_Where is it_?" she demanded, giving Yuuna a vicious shake as she tried to find the keyring she was to retrieve in order to win the match. Yuuna only spat out a tooth and grinned in reply.

"Looking for something?" someone else said.

Eva looked up, eyes wide in sudden understanding as she saw another Yuuna leaning against a tree. And another, and another, and another. The one under her let out an amused laugh, grabbed her in a bear hug, and exploded.

* * *

><p>"...I almost can't believe it," Setsuna said in amazement as she watched Yuuna's screen. Her old friend was laughing madly as she activated shikigami after shikigami copies of herself, which ran out of view toward what was presumably Eva's position almost as soon as they had been created. "I never gave her so many...!"<p>

"She must've figured out how to make her own, then," Asuna said, watching the display intently as she worked out the possible uses for a tool she had previously dismissed as 'a neat trick'. "How long can she keep it up?"

"She couldn't, not out in the real world," Abe Aiko, Onmyodo specialist and current member of Class 2-A, said. "Shikigami require a constant flow of power to stay animated. Most people can't manage more than a few small ones at once; it takes someone with real skill to manage more than a single human-sized one. The power drain would wipe out most people who tried...especially with something big like that dinosaur. There are ways around the power problem, but they're only temporary and the shikigami won't last long. But..." she shrugged as she watched the dozens of fake Yuunas dogpile Eva. "She's probably found a way to link them to the excess magic in here. Theoretically, they should continue to exist indefinitely as long as they have enough power."

"...well thank you for the explanation, Miss Expert," Asuna said dryly. She had been aware of some of the information Aiko had provided, but as she had never managed to get a shikigami to work at all, she had dismissed them as minor enemies at best and left it at that. Now though... "Yuuna sure is something, isn't she? To figure all this out?"

Possum couldn't help but grin as she overheard Asuna's question. Yuuna was really something else, all right; Possum had understood that within minutes of the start of their first training session.

"Wait, Yuuna's finally getting up! It looks like she's going to make her move!" someone said excitedly, drawing everyone's attention to the

* * *

><p>Eva was, for the first time in a long time, utterly flabbergasted. Shikigami like the anime and videogame characters from before were one thing, reproducing yourself with such accuracy, and so many times, was something else altogether. She gathered what power she could manage in the short time she had left before she knew the fake Yuunas would explode, and heaved the whole lot of them off. Yuunas went flying everywhere, many exploding in the air, others hitting the ground and creating small craters as they detonated.<p>

"_Enough! **Akashi Yuuna!**_" Eva bellowed. In response, a dozen more Yuunas emerged from the trees and rushed her. She swatted aside the first and second, buried her fist in the third Yuuna's gut, and then the fourth tackled her from the side. She threw that one off just in time for the fifth to throw a handful of powder in her face.

Eva hissed in pain as the garlic powder got in her eyes. _"**DAMN YOU AKASHI YUUNA...!**_" she bellowed as she swung her free hand wildly, trying to wipe her eyes clean of the vile powder with the other. Something tackled her from behind when she was off balance and she fell to the ground. She grabbed her attacker by the arm and threw them off in a random direction and scrambled to her feet, clawing at her eyes. Unable to see, she wasn't able to avoid the bucket of holy water someone dumped over her head. She growled at the minor pain it caused and punched another Yuuna in the gut, causing it to explode and blow her backward even as the holy water helped clear her vision. Another Yuuna smacked her in the face with a heavy metal cross, while still another tripped her up from behind. She whirled to face that one when another Yuuna, this one with an expression wholly different from the rest, darted in and, in the best icepick fashion, buried a spike in her chest, directly into her heart.

For Eva, the sudden burst of unexpectedly extreme pain, especially considering that she was only stabbed, was almost unbearable. She hadn't felt anything like _this_ in centuries, maybe _ever_...not even being burned as a witch had hurt this much! She let out an agonized roar that petered out into a breathless scream and looked down at the...the silvery _thing_ in her chest, to the hand that held it, and up the arm to Yuuna's—the _real_ Yuuna's—face and the triumphant expression she had.

"Silver coated oak," Yuuna said by way of explanation. "Blessed and purified of course, and dipped in a mixture of holy water and garlic, with a little holy incense thrown in for good measure." She shoved Eva up against a tree. "Betcha you can't take Possum away from me now, huh?"

Then she punched Eva in the face.

* * *

><p>"<em>And there you go, Akashi Yuuna has just won the duel!"<em> Kazumi announced via speaker system to the group watching the screens.

"That was..." Asuna said, trailing off.

"Wow...I didn't think I'd ever see something like that..." Fuuka said in wonder, wincing as she watched Yuuna yank the anti-vampire stake out of Eva, who slouched to the ground, clutching at the smoking hole in her chest for a moment before staggering back up to her feet.

"..." Negi was speechless, eyes wide as he watched Eva shake off Yuuna's offer of assistance. He had rarely ever seen Eva subject to such damage; sure, Yuuna had blown her up a few dozen times during the duel, but that was different, that wasn't up close and personal, in your face, bloody and violent hand to hand combat. Yuuna had actually managed to personally land what should have been a killing blow.

"That was...that was amazing," someone said. Several others voiced their agreement; Eva suffering a defeat was an extremely rare thing...Eva suffering a defeat so complete was something else altogether.

"Um..." Taro said, getting the attention of several of those nearby. "Hey, uh...Eva-chan just got staked, right? With silver and holy water and stuff?"

Several of the others started looking thoughtfully at each other.

"Well, what I'm trying to say is..." Taro said hesitantly. "Do you think she'll be alright? I mean...that stuff's supposed to kill vampires, right?"

Asuna walked up to Taro and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Taro-kun, you don't have to worry about Eva-chan. She won't die, not even if she's killed." She turned Taro back toward the screens, all of which showed Eva walking along stiffly at a leisurely pace as she headed for the return portal that would take her back to the entry area of the resort. Yuuna walked along beside her, looking as if the weight of the world had been taken off her shoulders. "She _definitely_ won't die from something like a spike to the chest. You can bet it hurt, though...I've never seen her make that face before."

"Yeah..." Taro said, clearly still troubled.

"She...she _really_ wanted to stay my trainer, didn't she?" Possum said, almost to herself.

* * *

><p>"Akashi Yuuna," Eva said later as the two of them trudged along back toward the teleporter.<p>

"Yeah?" Yuuna replied, a huge grin on her face.

"You..." Eva paused; she _really_ didn't want to say the words she was about to say. "You are only the second person to ever defeat me in a duel."

Yuuna looked down at her, still grinning. "I had to stack the deck to do it, too, heh."

Eva cocked an eyebrow at her and turned her gaze back to the narrow, winding path they were on. "True, but a loss is a loss. Also, I can't help but notice you aren't carrying that keyring in your pocket," she said, referring to the object she was supposed to have taken to win the duel.

Yuuna grinned guiltily. "Yeah...it's out there in the mud somewhere," she said waving her arm to take in the swamp environment as a whole. "I _said_ I stacked the deck, after all; even _I_ don't know where it is, just a general area."

Eva let out an amused grunt at that and changed the subject. "Those shikigami...how did you manage to create your own? The paper they use doesn't come cheap, and it takes a lot of work to purify it properly."

Yuuna grinned. "Wasn't easy, but if you combine the kind of magic circle that draws in power with a shikigami, it'll run for as long as it's getting power. _Really_ unstable though..." she said, smiling as if at some fond memory. "I don't think it'd work out in the real world, though," she added regretfully.

Eva felt an urge to smash her forehead against a tree. "It's dangerous to combine different magical styles, you know," she said dryly. 'Dangerous' was putting it mildly; more than one mage had burned out or otherwise caused irrevocable damage to himself or others while trying to combine styles in the past. "You also didn't explain how you purified them."

"Yeah, well..." Yuuna seemed to deflate. "That's something I picked up a while back..."

Eva let it drop and they walked in silence for a moment. "Trap," Yuuna said, stepping around a spot that looked to Eva like all the rest. After peering at it for a moment, however, she realized that a very small patch of mud was slightly more disturbed than the mud around it, concealing a tiny pressure plate. By way of explanation, Yuuna pointed up at the branches above them.

Eva cocked an eyebrow as she spotted the string of grenades up there, carefully hidden among the branches...anyone unlucky enough to step on the pressure plate would have a dozen live grenades fall pretty much on top of their head. "That's quite elaborate," she said as she continued along. "I am curious; when did you have the time to set up these traps? You spent a lot of time in here before the duel, but not _that_ much."

Yuuna laughed out loud at that; Eva scowled at her. "No no no," Yuuna said in amusement, waving her off. "It's part of Possum's training. Seriously!" she said, seeing the look on Eva's face. "You should see her in here, it's like she was _born_ for this kind of thing! She figured out how to disarm half the traps I set up in a minute or two, maybe five at most; the ones she can't disarm, she avoids. Even with me adding new traps all the time and changing the old ones, she _still _hasn't triggered any since that first day. She's good."

Eva nodded distantly as they resumed their walk. During those times Eva had watched or participated in the new students' training, The Girl had certainly seemed quite capable at stealth and evasion, even at point blank range...she had even managed to dodge a series of magic arrows, quite the achievement when they were of the type that homed in on their target. But still...Eva licked her lips. With skills like that even as a normal human, The Girl would make a wonderful student as a vampire. It was rare to find someone who interested her so much; she glanced back at Yuuna. "Why are you so obsessed with her?"

Yuuna's smile evaporated and her face took on an unexpectedly cold expression. It vanished an instant later, but Eva had recognized it for what it was. Yuuna remained silent.

"Something happened after you graduated," Eva said aloud.

"...yeah."

"..." Eva waited a moment, but when it became clear Yuuna wasn't about to explain, she pushed on. "You lost someone...were they that important?" Eva's voice sounded flippant, uncaring...anyone who knew her well would recognize her tone as a rare sign of mild commiseration. The fact that the two of them were alone was the only thing that allowed her to ask the question.

"...yeah," Yuuna said again. "It was...in the Ukraine, in Russia, pretty much a few weeks after I left Japan. It was...it was rough," she said.

"That would be...April or May of 2007. Ah, I see. The ghoul uprising," Eva said.

Yuuna nodded, but didn't elaborate.

"I heard the only survivor was a priest sent from Rome; a whole village was destroyed. It's been covered up of course, but I have my sources," Eva said, walking idly along, apparently careless. Inside, she was watching every move Yuuna made, from the way she walked to the way she kept reaching up to touch her neck to the way her eyes had gone distant, not unlike a soldier with a thousand yard stare.

"It was...it was bad," Yuuna said after a long moment. "Ludmila and Oleg, they..." She clammed up.

Eva looked away. She, too, had lost people who had, at the time, been very important to her. Whatever Akashi Yuuna had gone through, it had left quite an impression on her, and for whatever reason, she had become attached to The Girl. Well, if Yuuna was capable enough to win a duel against Eva herself, Eva supposed she could leave The Girl to her for a while longer. "Possum Cade..." she said aloud, and huffed in amusement.

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, July 7th, 2009, Midday<em>

* * *

><p>Negi Springfield leaned heavily on his podium, only half listening as his student Mochizuki Kagami read a passage from the textbook in halting, badly accented english. When she finished, she remained standing, looking at him expectantly for a moment before he snapped out of his momentary daze.<p>

"Thank you Mochizuki-san, you may sit down." He waited until she was seated before heaving himself up off the podium. '_I'm just so _tired_,'_ he thought absently as he turned to the chalkboard and reached for the chalk lying on the rail along the bottom. He had to try three times before his hand found the chalk, and he stood swaying for a moment before recalling what he had been about to write.

"Um...Negi-sensei, are you okay? You look very pale..."

Much to his consternation, Negi wasn't quite sure who had spoken; he thought it might have been Student Number 14, Yoshida Ume, but it just as easily could have been Student Number 2, Yamamoto Kimi. In any case, he was certainly feeling under the weather...Asuna had threatened to take him to the hospital the day before if his condition didn't improve by the time he got back from school. "I'm okay Yamamoto-san," he said, focusing his attention on the board with a monumental effort of will.

"Um...sensei? I'm Sasaki-san..."

"That's nice..." Negi said, trying to recall once again what he had been about to write on the board.

* * *

><p>Sasaki Rina looked at Negi-kun with real concern. He looked really <em>really<em> sick...his face was all pale and he had bags under his eyes, not to mention the way he was wobbling back and forth as he stood in front of the chalkboard... The fact that he had mistaken her for Kimi-chan was scary, too!

"U-um...sensei...?" she said again, and squawked in alarm along with several classmates when his left leg abruptly gave out on him and dropped him to one knee, barely managing to catch himself on the chalk rail at the bottom of the board. Rina was so focused on Negi-kun that she barely even noticed the other girls talking worriedly, but she _did _notice when Ono Ran, who shared the table in front of her with her best friend Inoue Ai, stood up, taking her bag with her.

"_Negi-sensei_!" Ran barked, loud and clear. She had to repeat herself twice before Negi finally pulled himself to his feet and turned his increasingly pale face toward her.

Rina watched in horror as Ran brought up her hand and made the shape of a gun with her fingers; she shivered as a sudden chill came over her. Ran waited until Negi had turned his attention fully toward her, and spoke one word.

"Bang."

Rina screamed and shot up out of her seat as Negi's head abruptly rocked back, his eyes rolled up in his head, and he fell bonelessly to the floor. With all her attention on her teacher, she didn't notice as Student Number 13, Ono Ran, quickly and quietly left the classroom.

* * *

><p>Out in the hallway, Ran shut the door and walked along calmly, carrying her school bag and looking for all the world as if she had been sent on an errand by a teacher. She ignored the rising noise from Class 2-A as she walked along, and had made it halfway down the hall before spotting anyone else; luckily, it was someone she could deal with.<p>

Ran walked up to the janitor, Margarent Gunther, the same woman who had made such a poor showing at the festival tournament. "Hello, Gunther-san."

The woman, who had been looking down the hall curiously as she tried to locate the source of the noisy class, looked down at her blankly for a moment before brightening up and smiling. "Oh, hi. You're Ono-san, correct? Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

Ran looked up at her thoughtfully. The janitor was doing a good job of pretending everything was all right in spite of the increasingly panicky sounds coming down the hallway. "Negi-sensei collapsed in class 2-A; I think you should go help him," she said, putting a little _oomph_ behind her 'suggestion'.

Margaret blinked a couple times, looking dazed, then shook her head to clear it and looked back down the hall. "Negi-kun needs my help...? Okay, I'll check it out right away; thanks Ono-san!" she said as she took off at a brisk jog toward the class in question.

Ono watched her go for a moment, then turned around and headed for the stairwell.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Dictionary time!<em>**

_Bishounen: Pretty boys. You know the type; they're all over anime._

_Shikigami: Remember those little paper cutouts they used to make all those copies of Negi early in the manga? That's what these are._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Sorry for the ridiculous delay; I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. Questions? Comments? Like the references? Hate the way I handled Eva? Let me know!_


	20. Ch 17 Darkness: Ayumi

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 17: Darkness: Ayumi**

* * *

><p><em>LanguageAngst/Stupidity Warning_

* * *

><p>Somewhere in the midwestern region of the United States, Bethany Stride, Kara Stride's little sister, sat behind a computer, reading the most recent email from her big sister, a smile growing on her face at Kara's childish excitement at having played music up on stage at a big festival with an actual, real life, professional band. Bethany had to admit she felt a little jealous; she had looked up videos of said band, Dekopin Rocket, on certain Japanese websites, and she thought they looked really cool. The idea of her big sister Kara playing in such a setting, however...she couldn't help but grin at the ridiculous image of Kara in her glasses, black slacks, and button up shirt, headbanging with the others, her hair carefully wrapped up in that horrible bun that mother always insisted she use.<p>

"I wonder..." Bethany said, minimizing the window she was reading the email in. She opened up a new one and did a search for 'Mahora Festival 2009', scanned through the Japanese descriptions on the list of sites that popped up only a little more slowly than she would have had they been in English, and quickly found one that mentioned the band Dekopin Rocket. She clicked the link and worked her way through the descriptions under the list of videos, struggling with some of the kanji; she could read the simpler stuff, but her studies had not yet progressed far enough for her to recognize even a third of characters in the Japanese writing system; she was much better at kana. Nevertheless, it was only a short time before she found a video playlist dedicated to Dekopin Rocket's third day performance at the festival.

The first video was a grainy, low quality mess with terrible sound; she could barely even make out who was playing which instrument on stage, though something about the pounding nature of the song had her starting to bob her head with the music. She skipped ahead to the next video, uploaded by someone calling herself 'Nutmeg'. This one was a little closer to the stage, and Bethany was able to recognize the band members for the most part, though she was still peering at the bass player, trying to figure out if it really _was_ her big sister she was seeing, when the video cut off and the next one, uploaded by someone called 'Todai' started playing. This video was _much_ closer to the stage, and showed the band members clearly. The sound was very, very good when compared with the previous two videos as well. Bethany squinted at the screen, trying to see if the bass-playing stranger in the awesome clothes was really her big sister. A moment later, the bass player looked up, almost directly into the camera, and Bethany gaped, her finger tapping the pause button.

Yep, that was her big sis Kara, all right.

Grinning, she restarted the video so she could hear the whole thing, turned her computer's speakers up and, the bass pounding in her head, went back to her email. She had just started a new one telling Kara that she was watching her on Japanese Youtube when her mother kicked the door in and stalked over to the computer.

"Bethany."

Bethany froze up. It was rare for her mother to use that tone, and it was _never_ a good thing. "Y-yes?"

"Where is that music coming from?"

Bethany started sweating. "Um..." She quickly minimized the email window and brought up the video site again, the music suddenly seeming far too loud in her room. "It's this..."

Her mom leaned over Bethany and watched the video for a long, long moment. Finally, she stood up, rubbed her forehead as if she suddenly had a migraine, and muttered a single word.

"_Shit_."

Bethany gaped. Her mother _never_ cursed. _Ever_. "...mama?"

"Pack your bags, Bethany," her mother said fiercely.

"What? What's going on...?"

Bethany's mother looked back down at the computer screen where her other daughter was doing a spectacular job in preparing to turn her own life into a short, unpleasant thing best described as a living hell.

"We're going to Japan."

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, July 8th, 2009, Morning<em>

* * *

><p>Sasaki Rina walked into the classroom in a much more subdued manner than she usually did; bypassing the group of girls swapping rumors by the door, she went straight to her table and sat down. Kumiko-chan, who sat beside her, had her head on the desk, apparently asleep, so she didn't bother greeting her. As she plopped down in her own chair, a worried frown marred her otherwise cute face.<p>

Yesterday, Negi-kun had collapsed.

She glanced over at her classmate Ono Ran's seat, which remained empty, like Possum-chan's and Eva-chan's, and Chacha-chan's, among others. Ran-san had done something to Negi-kun yesterday...Rina had watched her do it. It didn't make sense though...Ran had just pointed at him and said 'Bang!', and Negi-kun had collapsed! Things had gotten a little crazy after that, and when Rina had looked for the other girl a moment later to demand an explanation, Ran-san had been gone. Then the janitor had come in and called for help on her radio, and some people had come in and carted Negi-kun away...

Rina shivered. Yesterday had been _horrible_. She couldn't even remember which teacher it was that had come in to finish up their lesson, or what Seruhiko-sensei had taught them in their math class afterward...it was all a blur; she just kept seeing that horrible moment when Negi-kun's head went back and his eyes rolled up and he fell down as if he had just _died_. She looked up as Inoue Ai came through the door just ahead of the bell, as always, and took her seat at the empty table in front of Rina. The class fell silent, waiting expectantly for their homeroom teacher; but, instead of Negi-kun, Seruhiko-sensei walked in and went straight to the podium.

"Hello class," Seruhiko-sensei said, a fake grin that fooled nobody plastered across his face as he pretended nothing was wrong. "As some of you may know, Negi Springfield-sensei collapsed yesterday due to overwork; I am sure you will all be pleased to hear that he is currently recovering nicely in a private room at the hospital. The headmaster would like to urge everyone to avoid visiting him for the time being, as he needs all the rest he can get."

Rina could tell Seruhiko-sensei was lying; she'd have to be blind not to, and it made her worry even more.

"Now, you have been assigned a substitute for the time being," Seruhiko-sensei said, turning toward the door. "Mister Hart?"

Rina cocked her head to the side at the sudden gasps from several of the others as a strange foreign man in a suit stepped through the doorway, followed by a tall, thin man with the palest skin Rina had ever seen. She looked away, shivering; something about the pale man's eyes was just _wrong_, though she couldn't figure out just why that was. She realized Seruhiko-sensei was talking.

"—is Mister Jonus Hart; he is a visiting professor from England and an acquaintance of Springfield-sensei who kindly offered to teach in his place until he has recovered. And this is one of his students, Mister Carrick, who will be acting as his assistant. Does anyone have any questions?" Seruhiko said, sending a quick glance over the class. It was obvious several of the students, notably Mochizuki Kagami, Urashima Taro, and the class rep Nakamura Sachiko, had some very, _very _important questions, but were unwilling to ask them in front of the other students.

"No?" Seruhiko asked. "Okay then; I have work to do. Good luck Hart-sensei, Carrick-san," Seruhiko said nervously as he hurried to the door.

"Thank you, Seruhiko-sensei," the Great Vampire Lord Jonus Hart, last seen fleeing after a failed attack on the city of Mahora during what amounted to a drunken rampage after drinking the powerful blood of Negi's student Possum Cade, something most of the class was completely unaware of, said as he moved up to the podium. He looked out over the class, and Rina shrank down when his gaze turned her way. She didn't know why, but she really didn't like this 'Hart-sensei' at _all_. A quick look at her seatmate, Mori Kumiko, showed the other girl to have one hand buried in her bag while clenching her pencil with her other hand so hard her knuckles had gone white and beads of sweat stood out on her forehead.

"Kumiko-chan?" Rina whispered. She had to repeat herself before the other girl tore her eyes away from the substitute teacher and looked at her. "Are you okay?"

Kumiko looked at her blankly for a moment, and shook it off. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, relaxing her grip on her pencil. She kept her bag sitting up on the table top near at hand, though.

Seruhiko-sensei had just reached the door when someone on the other side opened it again.

Rina looked up at the door and smiled brightly, her mistrust of the substitute and his assistant temporarily forgotten at the sight of a familiar face she hadn't seen since before the festival. She stood up. "Possum-san!"

Possum Cade looked from Seruhiko-sensei's suddenly nervous expression to her classmate Rina, who looked happy to have her back. Possum grinned at her and waved, and started to step into the room, only for Seruhiko-sensei to step in front of her.

"I-I don't think that's a very, uh, a very good idea," he whispered hoarsely to her.

Possum gave him an incredulous look. "Huh? What do you mean? I've missed too much school already and they said it'd be okay for me to go back to class," she said, gesturing back to Chachamaru and Eva, who was standing impatiently behind her.

Eva glared at him. "_Move._"

Seruhiko's mouth worked silently as he tried to work out a way to keep them out of the room, but Eva stepped around Possum and pushed him aside, leading Possum into the room.

"Ah...! W-wait!" Seruhiko said, but Eva ignored him. Possum gave him an apologetic grin, while Chachamaru gave him a polite bow and entered the room; she almost bumped into Possum, who stood frozen in place, staring wide eyed at the teacher, who looked back at her with real alarm.

Rina watched all of this in clueless fascination from her seat. For some reason, Possum-chan and Hart-sensei seemed almost scared of each other, while Carrick-san, Hart-sensei's assistant, practically cowered behind the teacher. Eva-chan simply cocked an eyebrow, reached up, and grabbed Hart-sensei by the ear before dragging him out into the hallway with Seruhiko-sensei while everyone gaped. Possum quickly found her seat at far side of the room, which left the assistant, Carrick, the center of attention. He looked from face to face, increasingly nervous.

"S-so, how are you all t-today...?" he asked, his voice cracking as he said the last word.

Rina almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He was clearly not cut out to be a teacher, and he was kind of ugly, too.

"...we are fine," the class rep, Nakamura Sachiko said, her voice colder than Rina had ever heard it before.

"Yeah, fine as fine can be," Urashima Taro said sarcastically from her seat in the back by the window, glaring at the man.

Rina noticed several others glaring at him as if they knew him from somewhere, but shrugged it off in favor of trying to hear what was being said in the hallway; somebody sounded angry, but the words were muffled by the door and wall. She couldn't make out anything, but somebody was definitely upset.

* * *

><p>Eva glared. "Well?"<p>

Seruhiko wilted, holding his hands up as if to say 'I had nothing to do with this!'

Jonus Hart swallowed, his mouth and throat suddenly dry. "This is not what you're thinking, I promise you that; they asked me to do this," he said nervously, backing up a step to open a little more distance between himself and Eva. Eva took a step forward.

"And what is it that I'm thinking?" she asked coldly.

"That this is some plan of mine, maybe?" he offered.

"Is it?"

"No!"

Eva turned the glare up a notch or two. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! This isn't a plot or anything! Besides, that Reiko girl's got me trapped..." he said, looking away.

Eva cocked an eyebrow. "I see. Well; if Reiko has you trapped, that changes things." She put her hands on her hips and gave Jonus a measuring look. "The Girl's in there. Can you hold back your thirst?"

Jonus looked at the door to the classroom, clenched his teeth, and nodded. "Yes, I've made that decision. Her blood has brought me nothing but trouble; I would never have done what I did to this city if I hadn't been under her blood's influence."

Eva cocked her head to the side. "Is that so?"

Jonus clenched his teeth. "Look, we've known each other for a long time; have I _ever_ done something so stupid before? When have you ever known me to stay in one place long enough to try and take over a city, anyway?"

Eva looked at him for a moment. "That's true; I've never heard of you making such an idiotic move; at least, not in the last six or seven centuries. You did some pretty moronic things when you were first turned, from what I hear." She sighed. "Anyway, if you go after The Girl, if you go after _anyone_, I will _not_ be happy. Understand?" she said.

Jonus had known Eva for a long, long time. They had never been even remotely close, but they had been aware of each other, as they had both been aware of other strong vampires, through the long centuries. While Eva hadn't been strong at first, that had quickly changed; he reckoned she was one of, if not _the_ strongest vampires in existence at the moment. He was only of middling power himself, though he had lived a long, long life, and was considered that much more dangerous because of it. He himself had managed to kill what was considered at the time to be the fourth strongest vampire of them all, a feat that took him far beyond the level of those who could be challenged to improve one's position. He held a tenuous position with his power as low as it was, but it was a position he had held for centuries...a testament to just how good he was and how well he could plan things.

But Eva? Evangeline A. K. McDowell was the sort of vampire that _vampires_ told scary stories about. Plans? Eva didn't need a plan. If she had an army to face she wouldn't raise an army of her own or put on a disguise to slip in unnoticed, she would just start at the front lines and work her way through to the back. If she had a man to kill, hiding in the deepest, darkest dungeon, she would just tear the castle down around him. There was a reason Eva was the most feared vampire in existence, and Jonus did _not_ want to get on her bad side any more than he was already.

"What about old Zeph Castor?" Eva said. "What if he told you to fight?"

Jonus cocked an eyebrow at her, doing his best not to run away screaming in abject terror at her glare. "If he told me to fight, I'd tell him I'm already a prisoner; he would understand."

"Yes, I suppose he would," Eva said, sighing as she rolled her eyes. "Is he still mooning around in that castle of his?"

Jonus watched her carefully. "Yes; he wants you to join the Great Vampire Lords, McDowell. He won't give up until you do."

Eva rolled her eyes again. "Whatever. I'm not interested, and I hate pretty much all of you anyway."

"Um..."

Eva and Jonus both looked at Seruhiko, who stood watching incredulously off to the side.

"Yes?"

"What?"

"...Class should have started six minutes ago," Seruhiko said nervously. It was rare that he was in the presence of two such powerful beings at the same time; it understandably made him a little jumpy.

"Oh," Eva said. "Come on then," she said as she opened the door and entered the classroom and went to her seat.

Jonus glanced at Seruhiko, who motioned for him to enter the room, and steeled himself for an experience he was quite sure he wasn't ready for.

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, July 8th, 2009, Afternoon<em>

* * *

><p>Ayumi stumbled out of the classroom after what she felt had to have been the longest school day of her life. '<em>Everything sucks<em>,' she thought bitterly to herself. '_Negi-kun's gone, that bitch Possum's laughing at me behind my back..._' She wouldn't even admit to herself that she hadn't actually _seen_ Possum laughing at her; that was unimportant. What _was_ important was that horrified look in Possum's face when Ayumi had pushed—when Possum had tripped backward and fallen down the stairs the other day. For an instant, it had seemed as if the American girl had been reaching for her, but then she had hit the stairs and...

Ayumi shivered.

"Kobayashi-san, are you okay?" someone she vaguely recalled seeing around town from time to time asked; Ayumi gave her a withering glare and trudged on.

"St-stupid Possum," she muttered as she walked down the stairs.

"Hey, watch it!" someone yelled when she bumped into them. Ayumi ignored the other girl and continued on until she was at the ground floor.

As usual after school, the ground floor was a a flood of female students all trying to leave at once. Ayumi shoved her way through the press of the crowd a bit more rudely than she normally would have until she made her way to the shoe lockers.

_'Stupid Kara,' _she thought, almost randomly. '_Thinks she can take away my favorite band! I'll show her, I'll..._' she let that thought trail off; she couldn't think of any good way to punish Kara for her transgression at the festival. Kara had no business playing up on stage with Dekopin Rocket! None! That was something Ayumi should have done, not a girl who hadn't even known about them a year ago...! Not watching where she was going, she almost ran down another girl.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Ayumi shouted as she gave the offender a shove.

The other girl looked down at her, grinned, and cracked her knuckles. "Well well, if it isn't the little red haired suckup. How you doin', Suckup?"

Ayumi backed up a step or two, watching the bigger girl and her two friends warily. She hadn't noticed just who it was she was pushing...she would never have done it if she had seen that it was Kohana and her two stooges, Shino and Chihomi. Shino and Chihomi were stupid and mean, but they were Ayumi's own size; Kohana, or 'little flower' as her name translated, was a big, fat, bloated gasbag of a bully who enjoyed pushing others around and was as mean as she was ugly. Ayumi hated her guts.

Shino and Chihomi moved to stand around her, blocking any chance to escape; Shino had her usual ugly buck-teeth sticking out as she grinned stupidly at her while Chihomi just watched her, a predator's grin on her face. Ayumi shrank back from the two of them as well as she could; with the gasbag Kohana in front of her, the bucktooth behind her to the right and the freak behind her to the left, there was nowhere she could go as they forced her behind some bushes off to the side, out of view of most of the other students. The few who saw what was happening ducked their heads and hurried on.

"Come on Suckup, don't you have something to say?" Kohana said, giving her a little shove. "What, no snappy comeback? I'm disappointed in you, Suckup!"

"I'm not a suck up!" Ayumi said through clenched teeth. She wanted to scream; she _hated_ these three...! She wanted to fight back, to hurt them like they always hurt her, knock out Shino's ugly teeth, beat Kohana into a bloody pulp, but most of all, she wanted Chihomi to _suffer_. The girl was sick and twisted, and she knew just how to hurt another girl, knew which areas were most sensitive to a sharp pinch or a sudden jab; she hated them, _hated_ them all, she wanted to beat them up, to hurt them, but she was just so weak...! She wished she was strong like that tomboy Urashima Taro from class; she hated Urashima too, so much she couldn't stand it!

"O~oh! Suckup's talking back! What should we do about that, huh?" Kohana said, looking at the two flunkies.

Chihomi, her pretty appearance marred by what went on in her head, grinned, showing far too many teeth. "I wonder how well she can take a tongue piercing. Want a tongue piercing, Suckup?" she said, taking a drafting compass and a pair of scissors from her bag. "It's all the rage these days..."

Ayumi shrank back from the crazy girl, terrified as she eyed the pointed end of the compass. Some far off part of her mind absurdly took the time to note that the point looked rusty. "N-no...!"

"Ha ha! Tongue piercing, tongue piercing!" Shino chanted. "Go for it!" she said, grabbing Ayumi's arms from behind.

Ayumi let out a scream and kicked wildly as Chihomi approached; she managed to hit the girl's hand, knocking the scissors out of her grip, but the three girls didn't give her a chance to feel relieved.

Kohana drove her fist into Ayumi's belly as hard as she could, and Shino let go of her, allowing her to fall to her knees, and kicked her in the back, knocking her to the ground. Chihomi knelt down next to her.

"What's the matter, Suckup? Are you scared?" Chihomi whispered into Ayumi's ear, holding the compass with the point uncomfortably close to Ayumi's face. Ayumi, unable to answer, just squirmed on the ground, her arms wrapped around her stomach as she vainly tried to catch her breath after the sudden blow. Chihomi stood up and gave her a sharp kick to the hip and Ayumi cried out, a pitiful little breathless scream while the three bullies walked away, laughing.

The three were long gone by the time Ayumi struggled to her feet, trying to ignore the way her makeup was running from crying and how her stomach felt like she had just been hit by a car. As she gathered her books, which the bullies had dumped out of her bag at some point she couldn't remember, she spotted the pair of scissors Chihomi had been brandishing. They were a full sized pair of shears of the sort used for cutting cloth, and they were ridiculously sharp. Ayumi shivered as she cradled them in her hands. A pair of sewing shears had no right to be so sharp...! And the blades were long, longer than her hand, easily the biggest pair of shears she had ever seen...the heaviest too. They had the feel of an oft-used tool, but Ayumi had a feeling Chihomi had never used these for their intended purpose. The thought was disturbing, but...she really didn't want to let go of it. Holding the dangerous-looking pair of shears made her feel strong, powerful, as if she could take care of herself. She sat there a moment longer, her homework scattered on the grass around her, and quickly stuffed the pair of shears into her bag.

* * *

><p>Ayumi stumbled along the sidewalk, barely even seeing where she was going. '<em>I hate them...I hate them...I hate them...stupid idiots, I hope they die in a fire...' <em>She was tired, her body hurt all over, and she felt _mean_. What she felt most of all, though, was worry. Why had she taken those shears with her...? They were so heavy, she could feel them there in her bag, within easy reach. All she had to do to pull them out would be to reach into her bag... She shivered as she recalled the look on Chihomi's face as she approached, shears in one hand, drafting compass in the other. She realized she was groping for the shears with her free hand and quickly pulled her hand out of her bag. A few boys from the Boys' Middle School gave her a strange look, so she glared at them. '_Stupid boys, somebody should give _them_ a tongue piercing,_' she thought viciously. Her hand worked its way back into her bag again, but she let it stay this time.

'_Stupid bullies, they should all die_!'

And the girls in her class were all mean, too. They all made fun of her behind her back, she was sure! They just pretended to be nice when she was there, she was quite sure they changed their tune as soon as she had left. The only ones she even halfway liked were Kai and Kara, and she supposed her roommates Miyako and Rosemary were okay too, but they-

Ayumi froze in place on the sidewalk as her hand found not the handles of the pair of shears, but the corner of an envelope she had received in the mail yesterday, hastily torn open. Some idiot blundered into her from behind.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she said, whirling around to face the idiot.

What stood facing her was a foreigner, an American girl with dirty blonde hair she had let grow too long, so long that her bangs hung over one of her eyes; she swept her hair back out of the way even as Ayumi stared, but it fell back over her eye again, though it didn't stop her eyes from seeming to bore into Ayumi's.

Ayumi's first instinct was to run away, quickly. Whatever else she was, this girl was _insane_. Her hand however, still in her bag, found the shears, and without even thinking about what she was doing, she yanked them out, holding them shakily in front of her. "G-go away!"

The girl just looked from Ayumi's eyes down to the shears, reached forward, and twisted them out of her hands.

"That's dangerous," she said, her voice low and tired. "If you want to scare someone, try a shovel. Lots of things you can do with a shovel," the girl said, almost to herself as she dropped the shears on the sidewalk and stepped around Ayumi, continuing on her way. "Or a stapler," she added as an afterthought as she trudged away.

Ayumi's heart raced as she watched the lunatic go. She waited until the other girl was out of sight before snatching up the shears and running away.

* * *

><p>Ayumi found herself back on the school grounds a short time later, the most recent letter from her very own wicked stepmother occupying her mind. But there would be no handsome prince to save <em>her<em>, oh no; Ayumi was alone, and alone she would stay. Sure, she thought her teacher Negi was the best thing since the cell phone, but she couldn't see herself with him in the future, or any other man. It just...didn't work. She had too many soft spots, she was too fragile to let anyone get close. If she did, she would have to expose her weaknesses, and she couldn't stand to have anyone else know just how weak she really was.

"Not happening," she muttered under her breath, thinking back to her stepmother's letter; this one had been long and winding, and Ayumi got the impression that the money situation back at home was getting very, _very_ tight. The little that her stepmother sent her always went straight into paying off Ayumi's guitar, a beautiful red Gibson SG Standard that she had bought on credit the day she had decided to start her own band. It had been ridiculously expensive, but when she saw it hanging on that hook in the guitar shop that day, it had just been...perfect. She had been trying to pay the thing off for close to two years now, and she honestly wasn't sure just how much she still owed...still, the guys at the guitar shop had done her a favor, and if Ayumi had anything to do with it, she'd at the very least pay off her guitar; though she would never admit it to anyone else, her guitar, her place in the band, was the only thing she had that really seemed _real_. When she played her guitar with Kara on bass, Kai on drums, and Miyako doing the vocals, she could forget about her wicked stepmother, Kohana and the others, the way her classmates all lied to her face and talked about her behind her back...she just wanted to be happy, but nobody would let her...! Ayumi stomped on a twig that had the misfortune to be in her way on the sidewalk, and sneered at the crunch it made.

"Bunch of idiots," she said aloud. Her stepmother had threatened her again; this time, she had threatened to drive to Mahora and drag her out of the dorm by her ear if she didn't stop wasting money on whatever she thought Ayumi was wasting money on. The threat was scary; Ayumi _really_ didn't want to get dragged around in front of her classmates, not at all! She didn't think her stepmother would actually do it, not in public anyway, but...

Ayumi shivered again. Things were getting bad. No, they were bad before; now, her life was turning into a living hell. The only bright spot was the occasional money she got whenever Miyako painted another picture on a guitar for the guys down at the guitar shop; as the one who had set up that little side job for Miyako, she was entitled to a share of the pay.

She was thinking about this when someone grabbed her around the neck from behind and spun around, dragging her off her feet and slamming her face first into the sidewalk. She let out a strangled cry as she hit the pavement.

"Where is it? I know you have it!" a familiar voice hissed into her ear.

Ayumi's eyes went wide in terror. Chihomi! She had seen her take the shears...!

"_Where is it_?" the other girl demanded, smacking Ayumi's head into the sidewalk hard enough to make her eyes water as the rough surface ripped into the skin of her forehead. "Tell me!"

"I-I don't know!" Ayumi lied. "I don't even know what you're talking about!" she managed to squeak out. Chihomi banged Ayumi's head into the sidewalk again. "_Ah_...! Stop it Chihomi! It hurts, it _hurts_!"

Chihomi stopped banging her head into the sidewalk, but Ayumi got the feeling it wasn't because of what she had said.

"What? Do you have something to say?" Chihomi said, apparently to someone else.

Ayumi moved her head, trying to blink away the blood dripping into her eye from the big scrape on her forehead, and tried to see who was there. All she could see from her position was a pair of skinny legs with black socks and sneakers.

"You shouldn't do things like that..." said a familiar, shy voice.

Ayumi was mortified. The girl standing there, watching her get tortured, was Caro Shaw. The same Caro Shaw who Ayumi routinely took out her frustrations on. The same Caro Shaw she herself had mistreated more than a few times.

She wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

Instead, Chihomi lifted up her head again and smacked it _hard_ against the concrete. Ayumi let out a cry. "Fine, whatever." She turned her attention back to Ayumi, booting her painfully in the side. Ayumi curled up in pain, utterly humiliated. "I'm not done with you," she said to Ayumi, then booted her again.

Ayumi laid there, sniffling, her face a bloody, teary mess and her makeup running all over the place, while Chihomi walked away.

Caro, however, remained standing beside her.

"Do you need help?"

Ayumi lurched to her feet, trying to cover her face so no one could see it. "Go away..."

"Ayumi-san? You're bleeding..."

"Go away I said!" Ayumi said, turning away. She was utterly humiliated; first she had been beaten up and left looking like a mess, and now _Caro Shaw_ of all people had saved her...! '_I would rather be dead_,' she thought viciously.

"Ayumi-san...?" Caro said, coming closer. She tried to take Ayumi's arm.

"_Get away from me!_" Ayumi screeched, giving Caro a shove that knocked her off balance so hard she fell down. Caro started to get up, but Ayumi pushed her down again. '_How DARE she pity me...!'_

"Hey...!"

"_Shut up!_" Ayumi screamed as she gave Caro another push. Caro scrambled back, but Ayumi went after her. _'Stupid __**bitch**_,' she thought viciously as she grabbed Caro by the hair. '_She's going to go back and tell _everybody_ about Chihomi, I just know it...!_' She yanked Caro to her feet, the shy girl whimpering and trying to feebly loosen Ayumi's grip on her hair.

It was only at this point that Ayumi realized that there were others around, students who had stayed late for clubs or to study, who had only moments before been released for the day. Ayumi let go of Caro's hair and grabbed her by the wrist instead, using her forearm to try to wipe the blood from her face; she only managed to smear it even further. By this point, several drops had fallen on the front of her summer uniform shirt, soaking in and staining the material; combined with the dirt she had picked up and the button that had been ripped off when Chihomi knocked her down, she looked like a mess and she knew it. It only made her state of mind worse. She ran along, dragging Caro behind her.

"W-wait! Slow down, Ayumi-san!" Caro wailed.

"Shut up _shut up _**Shut **_**UP**_!" Ayumi screamed at her as she headed for what the students all called the New Gym.

* * *

><p>The area behind the New Gym was, luckily for Ayumi at least, empty. She yanked Caro forward and tripped her so she fell into the gravel left behind in the bottom of the small water runoff ditch that ran along the wall of the gym. Caro let out a yelp as she fell, but Ayumi didn't care. "You stupid little bitch!"<p>

Caro gingerly pushed herself up on hands and knees, but Ayumi didn't let her get any further than that; she kicked her in the side. Caro fell against the side of the building and sat up, looking at the other girl nervously for a moment before pausing to try and pick a tiny piece of gravel from the palm of her right hand.

"You stupid bitch..." Ayumi repeated again, pacing back and forth. _'Stupid Caro...I _HATE _her...! I wish she would just _die_!' _Ayumi knew that she wasn't thinking straight, but she just didn't care at this point.

* * *

><p>Having removed tiny the pebble from her skin, Caro looked warily back up at Ayumi as the red haired girl paced back and forth, muttering to herself, clenching and unclenching her fists.<p>

Something was wrong; that much was obvious. What it was, though, Caro had no way of knowing short of asking, and Ayumi didn't seem to be in a mood to answer any questions. She was kind of worried for her...Ayumi had always been sort of mean to her, first teasing her and then moving on to trapping her in corners or against a wall and finally progressing to an uncomfortably tight hug, as if she was just a possession like a teddy bear or something, but Ayumi had never hurt her like this, never pulled her hair or shoved her down or kicked her. Caro was tough, she could take it...but it was scary. Caro hesitantly climbed to her feet. "Ayumi-san...?"

Ayumi whirled around, the blood from her forehead already starting to dry into a sticky mess on her face, and Caro jerked back at the wild look in her eyes. "_Shut up!_" Ayumi screeched.

Caro swallowed the lump in her throat and plodded on. "I...I don't know what happened, but if you need to talk to-"

Ayumi slapped her.

Caro looked at the other girl, wide eyed as she raised her hand up to the side of her face. Her cheek was starting to sting... "Why did you do that? What did I do to you...? I-I just...I just wanted to..." Caro muttered as her eyes started to water. "You're...you're mean..."

This seemed to produce a change in Ayumi, but unfortunately not one for the better. Ayumi got right up in her face, the white of her left eye standing out dramatically from the drying blood on the skin around it. "Shut up! Are you saying I'm a bully? I'm not a bully! You're just an idiot! An _idiot!_" she said, her voice rising higher and higher as she went on, culminating in her screeching out "_I hate you!_"

Caro shrank back from the other girl, but with her back to the wall of the gym, she had nowhere to go.

"_I hate you I hate you I HATE you!" _Ayumi continued to screech, pounding her fist against the wall beside Caro's head. Caro flinched away, and Ayumi grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her back.

Caro yelped as Ayumi smacked the back of her head against the wall, twisting her fingers in Caro's hair.

"It hurts, Ayumi-san! Please! Please stop!"

"_No_! Why should I, huh? You're just going to, to-you'll just go back and tell everybody! And-and then what, huh? Answer me that!" Ayumi demanded, making very little sense to Caro.

Caro, her eyes watering from the way Ayumi was pulling her hair, _really_ didn't like the far away look in the other girl's eyes; it was as if she wasn't even really aware of what she was doing. Ayumi brought Caro's head forward and walloped it against the wall again, and Caro let out a cry. Ayumi did it again, and again, that far away, panicky look still in place, and smacked Caro's head against the wall again harder than before.

Caro cried out; that last one had _hurt_. Ayumi was crying and mumbling and screaming about how she hated people and none of it made any sense, and Caro's instincts were _screaming_ at her to just...run away from the crazy girl. Ayumi chose that moment to give Caro's hair a particularly hard yank. Caro cried out, her hands lashing out of their own accord...and her right ended up with a handful of Ayumi's hair.

Ayumi let out an offended screech. "You little bitch..._LET GO OF MY HAIR_!" Ayumi howled.

"You...you let go first!" Caro demanded shakily. She had a feeling that if she let go, things would get ugly very quickly.

"You're going to regret this!" Ayumi said, her voice hitching as she grabbed Caro's wrist with her free hand, refusing to let up her own grip on Caro's hair. "Too far! You're taking this _too far_!" Ayumi squealed, tears starting to fall as Caro gripped her hair even tighter.

And then Ayumi gave her hair the sharpest yank yet and Caro shrieked, letting go of Ayumi's hair before she could stop herself. Ayumi jerked Caro's hair savagely and shoved her back against the wall, finally losing her grip. Ayumi gave her a jerky smack on the side of the head, but it was enough to knock Caro off balance enough to fall clumsily to the ground. She hesitantly brought her hand up to the side of her head, where Ayumi had grabbed her hair. '_Is it bleeding..._?' she wondered to herself. It certainly _felt_ like it was bleeding—it felt like Ayumi had pulled out half the hair on Caro's head—but there was no blood she could see.

A rock rolled under Ayumi's foot as she staggered back and she lost her balance, flailing as she fell. Her bag hit the ground and spilled its contents across the grass. Caro's eyes went to the absurdly large set of scissors lying in the grass, and then Ayumi's hand fell and closed around them, and a cold feeling settled in the pit of Caro's stomach.

Ayumi climbed back to her feet, clutching the scissors nervously. "I-I warned you, but you didn't listen! _You didn't listen_!" she said, her voice going higher and higher. "You went too far! _You took it too far!"_ she screamed, her voice going so high it cracked as she spoke.

* * *

><p>Takahashi Shizuko, student number 12 of class 2-A, had been out for a stroll after school when she noticed two first year students hurrying away from the direction of the New Gym with their heads down. Shizuko looked in the direction from which the two nervous girls had come, and frowned. She walked up and pulled one of them aside; the girl looked up at her, her eyes worried and moist, as if she was about to cry. Shizuko's gaze sharpened noticeably, changing the character of her face from open and maybe even a little ditzy to scarily alert. If someone had bullied them...normally a peaceful, quiet person, Shizuko didn't like bullies or anyone else who took advantage of those weaker than themselves, not one little bit.<p>

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Shizuko asked. The girl glanced back the way she had come, as if debating on whether or not to tell her.

"Well..." the girl said, looking to her friend for support.

"It's that second-year, Kobayashi-san. She's picking on someone," the second girl said, and abruptly clammed up.

"She...she has a pair of scissors this time..." the first girl said nervously. She flinched back at something she saw in Shizuko's eyes.

"Where is she?" Shizuko asked quietly.

The two girls went quiet and looked at each other, then turned to Shizuko. "She's behind the New Gym," the second girl said. "Please, please stop her! She's scary like this, I don't like it..." the girl said, hugging her bag to her chest nervously as she looked at her feet. Her friend put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you," Shizuko said, looking over to where the roof of the New Gym could be seen above the treetops.

* * *

><p>Caro cringed back as Ayumi put her fingers through the finger holes in the handles of the pair of shears.<p>

"I said stop that! You brought this on yourself! Th-this is _your _fault! Not mine, _yours_!" Ayumi said, her voice wavery, almost scared. She grabbed Caro's hair again

"Ah!" Caro cried out. She had been hurt before, sure; one didn't reach her age without a few minor wounds at the very least, but never before this day had she felt the sensation of having her hair pulled out by the roots; it hurt to an absurd degree. Through teary eyes, she could see Ayumi was crying too, clearly terrified at her own actions, but now that she had started, she seemed to have found herself unable to stop. She didn't even seem to know what to do with the shears...absurdly, Caro almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

All of that was replaced by panic when Ayumi brought the shears closer, her hand shaking. Caro tried to back away, but Ayumi still had a handful of her hair.

"N-no...!" Caro begged.

"Ayumi! _What the hell are you doing_?!"

* * *

><p>Shizuko walked briskly around the last hedge just in time to see her classmate Kara Stride hit Kobayashi Ayumi, already a mess with her dirty uniform and dried blood on her face from an ugly scrape on her forehead, across the face with a backhanded blow that staggered the other girl. Ayumi abruptly let go of Caro and stumbled back, but Kara gave her no time to recover, grabbing her arm and moving around behind her, twisting her arm around and up into a hammer lock, and forcing Ayumi down to her knees.<p>

"Let go!" Kara demanded. "Let go of it _NOW_!"

And, now that Shizuko was so close, she could see what Kara was talking about: Ayumi held an absurdly large pair of shears in one hand, flailing it around as she wailed in pain. Shizuko's mother had a pair like that; they were big enough to do a lot of damage if used as a weapon. She briefly wondered what had driven Ayumi to such a state; whatever it was, it must have been terrible. Ayumi wasn' the easiest to get along with, but this was worse by several orders of magnitude than anything she had ever done before. She contemplated trying to snatch the shears away, but quickly dismissed the idea. With the way Ayumi was swinging them around, any attempt to get close could get a girl badly cut, if not worse; Kara was lucky she hadn't lost an eye.

"_IT HURTS_!" Ayumi wailed.

"Then let go!" Kara growled at her, twisting her arm a little further.

Ayumi's screaming went up an octave and she dropped the shears. Shizuko stepped forward and picked them up and put them into her bag. Kara gave her a nod, and Shizuko nodded in return as she quickly slipped back out of Ayumi's reach and went to check on Caro.

Kara let go of Ayumi and gave her a shove, knocking her clumsily into the dirt, crying, her hair all a mess and snot running down her nose. Kara moved to stand in front of her and crossed her arms.

"Ayumi, I have had enough; this is where I draw the line," she said. Ayumi looked up at her, trying to glare through her sobbing and failing miserably.

"Yuh-you're out of the buh-band!" Ayumi wailed, but Kara just looked at her.

"No, we've talked about it, Ayumi. Me and Kai and Miyako, we all agree: you've gone way overboard, ever since the festival. If you can't straighten up, screw that. I'm kicking _you_ out of the band."

* * *

><p>And there it was. Kara looked down at Ayumi, trying to school her face into hiding the swirl of emotions she was feeling, foremost among them worry for her bandmate and guilt over lying about what Kai and Miyako had said. She desperately, desperately hoped Ayumi would call her bluff.<p>

Ayumi's eyes went wide and panicky, and Kara wanted desperately to hug her and pat her head and tell her everything would be alright, but her experience with the girl told her that Ayumi wouldn't learn from this experience if she let her off the hook...and Ayumi _desperately_ needed to learn from this experience. Her actions had grown increasingly vicious and self centered ever since the festival, and everyone was sick of it.

Ayumi's mouth started to work as tears started to fall, but the words that came out were not what Kara wanted to hear.

"S-so what!" Ayumi said. "I-I don't c-care about you guys! You're all a...you're just a bunch of sc-scrubs anyway! And your bass playing _SUCKS_!" Ayumi screeched, her voice cracking as she scrambled to her feet, then turned and ran, sobbing wildly while Kara, Shizuko, and Caro watched her go.

Finally, when the silence had stretched too long, Kara turned to Caro. "I'm sorry; I didn't know it had gotten that bad," she said, referring to Ayumi's constant bullying of Caro. As far as Kara knew, up to this point it had never progressed beyond teasing and occasional grab-hugging on Ayumi's part. This...it was way beyond what Kara had thought Ayumi was capable of.

Caro looked up at her, her eyes wide. "You...you've got to go after her! What about..." she trailed off as Shizuko held out a small hand mirror and she saw her own disheveled appearance.

"Ayumi can take care of herself," Kara said with a finality she didn't feel. "She brought this on herself, so she can deal with it herself." She felt a little petty and bad that she had lied about Kai and Miyako agreeing to kick Ayumi out of the band, but that didn't make it any less true. Kara had been brought up to take responsibility for her own actions, and she expected the same of others. Ayumi would have to take responsibility for what she had done...even though Kara wanted to find her and apologize, Ayumi had gone too far; she would have to make amends before Kara would let her back into the band. Even something like a simple heartfelt 'I'm Sorry' would have worked, but...Kara sighed. She would just have to wait and see.

Shizuko looked off again in the direction Ayumi had fled, and frowned. She had seen the panicked look on Ayumi's face; she didn't like it one bit. For one brief instant, Ayumi had had the look of a drowning man who had been denied rescue. She glanced at Kara and Caro as they talked, then back to where Ayumi had gone.

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, July 9th, 2009, Noon<em>

* * *

><p>"Hey, Negi," Asuna said as she entered the private room in the secret hospital under the Mahora Middle School Administration Building and shut the door behind her. The facility had housed everything from youkai and oni to vampires and ghouls and even the occasional human over the years, but now, it held one of the most beloved citizens of Mahora: a young man called Negi Springfield, magic teacher from Wales and almost as famous and well loved as his father, among certain circles. He was kind and well liked by everyone that knew him; to find someone who truly disliked him was extremely rare.<p>

He was lying on a hospital bed, his condition unchanged from the day before.

Asuna sat down in the seat next to the bed, propping her sword up nearby; she never let it out of her sight these days...too many unexpected surprises had popped up since her return to Mahora earlier in the year, not the least of which was the sudden, unexplained collapse of one of the best friends she had ever had.

"How are you doing today?" she asked as she settled in.

Negi just laid there, his eyes not quite shut, staring blankly out at nothing as his chest slowly rose and fell and machinery beeped around him. Negi Springfield had fallen into a coma, and no one knew when—or _if—_he would ever come out of it.

"I'm tired; the last few days've been rough, you know!" she said in a chiding tone.

Negi didn't respond.

Asuna heaved a sigh. "It seems like every two-bit wannabe has come out of the woodwork all at once to give us a hard time! Don't worry about it though," she added at the end. "Me and the others have been keeping everything normal; even the new kids are helping out! Taro-kun and your class rep Sachiko are doing a great job taking care of the regular kinds, and Kagami's having a blast blasting anything magical that tries to break in. Heh, you should see her when she gets going, she's having the time of her life!"

Negi didn't move.

Asuna settled back in the surprisingly comfortable chair. "And then Kazumi and Reiko are rattling on and on about all the ghosts that are coming into town. There's nothing we can do about that...it kinda bothers me. But Kazumi keeps insisting they're harmless and Reiko's not contradicting her, so I dunno. Still...I hope none of 'em start causing any trouble, you know?" Asuna leaned forward, propping her hands up under her chin. "We all miss you Negi, you brat. Hurry up and get better."

Negi continued to lay there, his breathing slow and steady, an I.V. tube hooked up in his arm, various wires with suction cups attached to his chest and head and another on a clip at the end of one of his fingers. Asuna sat there a moment, watching him for a reaction. She frowned when none was forthcoming. Negi, awake and moving around, was larger than life, a pillar of strength around which his circle of friends moved. He was the life of the group, even when he wasn't there; to see him here, in this hospital bed... Asuna shuddered as she took in his too-lean form, the droopy, sad expression on his face even in a coma, the sickly paleness of his skin. He looked impossibly small, far too frail to be the same energetic teacher who had inspired so many students to greatness. Asuna cracked a smile. '_He also inspired quite a few of them to more questionable things...'_ Boy was _that_ true...! Her smile widened crookedly as she recalled some of the more notable instances over the years of overactive hormone-driven girls looking to catch a Negi of their very own.

Negi just laid there.

Asuna let out another sigh and looked up at the ceiling, squeaky clean. The whole room was remarkably clean; probably courtesy of some highly specific array of magic circles, Asuna thought idly. She hadn't been lying when she said trouble had been coming out of the woodwork recently; she hadn't gone into detail about it mostly because she didn't want Negi, wherever his mind was wandering these days, to worry about it...and if he heard the details, he would _definitely_ worry about it. One of his students had flipped out and apparently tried to stab several others just the day before, from what Asuna had heard; she didn't know if the details were true...for instance, where would Kobayashi Ayumi have gotten a sword, anyway? But she had only heard of it because Sayo had overheard the rumor in the halls and had told Kazumi about it, but it sounded like things could have gotten ugly very quickly if two other students hadn't gotten involved. None of the students were those she was involved with, so she didn't really know _what_ to think about the incident...she didn't know enough about the situation to make any judgements, and well...everyone had their own circumstances, right? But still, what would drive a girl to try and harm another that way? And then there was the issue of another one of his students, Ono Ran...

Ono Ran had disappeared the day Negi fell into a coma. She had returned to her room in the dorm to get a few things, and then had vanished without even a word to her roommate, a mousy girl called Yoshida Ume. Asuna didn't know either of _them _either, but it was almost certain Ono Ran was up to trouble, and perhaps had even caused Negi to fall into this...this...whatever-it-was. The girls in Negi's class couldn't or wouldn't tell her much about what happened, but it certainly _seemed_ Ono Ran had done this to him.

Asuna's cell phone beeped at her, so she pulled it out of her pocket to look at the time. "Sorry I can't stay longer today, Negi; I have an appointment. Turns out Yuuna wants to do some experimenting with magic cancel and that weird hoodoo stuff Possum can do, and wants me to help plan it. Well, see ya later, Negi!" Asuna said, leaving the room. The door swung shut behind her, leaving the room once again in silence but for the faint sound of breathing and the beeping of machines.

* * *

><p><em>Friday, July 10th, 2009, Midday<em>

* * *

><p>Kara glanced back at Ayumi's empty seat directly behind her for the tenth time in an hour, prompting Urashima Taro, who sat behind Ayumi, to look up at her questioningly. Kara shook her head and looked back at her textbook without really seeing it. Ayumi had been absent from school for the last couple days, ever since Kara had stopped her from doing...whatever she had been about to do to Caro and kicked her out of the band. She felt bad; she couldn't help it. Logically, she knew Ayumi was acting like a total asshole, but that didn't stop her from wondering <em>why<em>. What had set Ayumi off like that? It wasn't as if she had known Ayumi all her life, but even so she felt that the other girl's actions were extremely out of character for her.

Kara looked blankly out the window, not really seeing anything beyond the glass. The whole thing was very troubling...Kara had found herself staring out into space quite often over the past day or so, ignoring everything around her as she thought about her friend. She knew Ayumi didn't get along with her stepmother, and Miyako told her once about a mean-spirited letter from Ayumi's stepmother she had found, tossed behind Ayumi's mirror in the dorm room they shared...had Ayumi's stepmother sent her another? Kara frowned as she propped her arm up on her desk and rested her head on her hand. So, had it been her stepmother, or had it been something else? Could it have been money problems...? Kara knew all about money problems; living in Japan was surprisingly expensive when one had no parents close by to support them.

Kara shook her head to clear it; she had the feeling she was on the wrong track altogether. She wanted the old Ayumi back, the Ayumi that laughed at her own stupid jokes, the Ayumi who loved to make her guitar scream, the Ayumi who liked to sit and talk for hours about anything and everything. Kara _liked_ that Ayumi; it was a side of herself that Ayumi showed to very, very few, and it was the most honest side of her Kara had ever seen. That side of Ayumi knew how to smile, how to laugh, how to act like a total moron without feeling self conscious about it; Kara was pretty sure Ayumi didn't even show that side of herself to Kai or Miyako, and she had known Kai longer and was even Miyako's roommate...!

Kara heaved another sigh while the teacher droned on.

'_I really need to fix this...' _

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ran-chan? I <em>really<em> don't like this..." the president of the Fortune Telling Club, Kotobuki Minami, said as she stood next to Ono Ran in a small otherwise deserted former office building. "This is weird... Those are circles of power, right? Like in that book I found in the library," she said, pointing to the paper printouts Ran had had Minami and their other club member Mari Nichols had been posting up in out of the way places all over town. "And these are something to do with trapping something, right?" she said, holding up a sheet of paper with a different symbol on it. "What exactly are you trying to do here?" she demanded. '_And it better be important enough to justify having me and Mari skip school today,'_ she added mentally.

Ran looked at her for a moment, then over at Mari, who nodded, looking worried, and sighed. "You're right; what I want to do _is _weird. But..." she said, trailing off. "But I feel it needs to be done." She turned her attention back to the intricate magic circle she was trying to draw on another piece of paper.

Minami just looked at her for a long moment, then over at Mari, who was checking the copies she had made to make sure nothing had gotten into the wrong stack. "Well, if you feel that strongly about it..." She heaved a much-put-upon sigh. '_Eh, whatever. I'll just make up whatever I missed in school today later.' _"Well fine then; whatever you want. We'll help you, but if things get too weird..." She sighed again and shook her head. "We'll have to stop you for your own good. We're friends, aren't we?"

Ran looked at her, her eyes a little wider than normal, and finally smiled; it was small, barely noticeable, but Minami and Mari had known her long enough to recognize it for what it was: a real, honest smile from their friend. "Okay."

Minami grinned back at her. "Okay, it's a promise! Now, how were you planning on carrying these out of here?" she asked, pointing to the large stacks of paper.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Sorry about the ridiculous two month delay between chapter 16 and chapter 17; this is the start of a rather long arc, and I wanted to get all the chapters finished and edited for the sake of continuity before I started posting them. I must admit Book 2 has given me far more problems than I thought it would; then again, my work situation has been all over the place as well, and I've had to develop new methods for getting my writing done. I know, I know: excuses. Still, I'm working on writing more regularly. My goal is around 3000 words a day, and when conditions are right (work, family interruptions, all the rest), I can actually manage it more often than not. Still, there are far too many days where I barely manage 500...I need to work on that. Chapter 18 will be released within a reasonable time frame, I promise : p<p> 


	21. Ch 18 Darkness: Kara

_Oddness Warning_

* * *

><p><strong>Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 18: Darkness: Kara<br>**

* * *

><p><em>Friday, July 10th, 2009, After School<em>

* * *

><p>"...wow Kara, you really suck today," Kai said after the band, minus the lead guitarist, came to a discordant stop for the third time since they had started playing. She grinned to show she was just messing around, but Kara mentally kicked herself all the same; before the...the 'incident' with Ayumi, it had always been Miyako who screwed up, since she was still trying rather desperately to learn guitar. Kara had always had a good sense of the beat; it was something everyone in her family shared, and she had taken to playing the bass like a fish to water. Kara sighed.<p>

"Yeah...I'm just thinking about Ayumi is all," she said hesitantly. "I mean...you guys know what happened. Do you think I went too far...?" she said, looking at Kai and Miyako for help.

"What do you want me to say?" Kai asked. "If you want me to say you mercilessly ripped all of Ayumi's dreams into itty bitty pieces and stomped on them when she was powerless to stop you I will, but honestly I think she pretty much had it coming." Kai fell silent for a moment, twirling her drumsticks in fancy patterns, the way she always did whenever she was bored. "I am kind of worried about her though...I haven't seen her in days, since even before this stunt, and her phone's always turned off."

"She broke it," Miyako said quietly as she fiddled with the strap of the beat-up old acoustic guitar she was learning to play on. "I don't know how, but somehow she broke it in half; there were a lot of little pieces..."

"What?! When did _that_ happen?" Kara demanded. Ayumi _loved_ her phone; she always took great care of it! How had she...? Kara slipped the strap of her bass up over her head and placed the instrument on a guitar stand.

"I found it a few days ago," Miyako replied as she tried, again, to make an F chord. It didn't work out so well. She repositioned her fingers and tried again; the result was...questionable, but recognizably an F chord. Miyako smiled.

"...do you think I should try to get in touch with Kakizaki-san?" Kara asked after a long, long moment through which Miyako practiced changing chords while strumming.

"I think you're trying too hard," Kai said absently, looking up from where she was inspecting the particularly worn head on one of her drums. She hadn't noticed how badly it was worn before, but it looked likely to rip at any time, and a replacement would mean spending money she couldn't really afford to spend. She turned her attention back to the drumhead. "Let her stew for a while; it'll be good for her."

"I don't know..." Kara said, looking away as she tried to recall if she had Kakizaki-san's number; Kakizaki Misa was Ayumi's favorite guitarist _ever_, not to mention the leader of Ayumi's absolute favorite band on the face of the Earth. Ever. If anyone could cheer up Ayumi, it'd be Kakizaki Misa...but still the question remained: _should Kara do it_?

Ayumi had never been the most stable person, mentally speaking. Kara had been able to see that right from the beginning; Ayumi felt the need to put up a front at all times for one thing, and not only did she rarely allow others to get close to her, she rarely allowed herself to get close to others, either, including her classmates. Kara was pretty sure the No Name Band was made up of the only three girls Ayumi had ever allowed to get so close, and to be kicked out...she shivered. '_Maybe I really have made a mistake here,' _she thought to herself. '_But something had to be done..._'

Kara sighed again, staring off into space.

"You really are thinking too much," Kai said, grinning as she shook her head to show her exasperation. "Come on, quit moping and give us a bassline to work with over here!"

* * *

><p>Takahashi Shizuko laid back on her branch perhaps thirty minutes after school let out, her eyes closed and her hands acting as a pillow under her head, just enjoying the feeling of the breeze as it wound between the branches of the world tree. She liked to climb up the world tree sometimes, just to get away from her fan club if for nothing else. She smiled slightly as she recalled some of the group of younger girls' more unusual attempts to show their loyalty; they would do any manner of things to get her attention, from spelling out declarations of love with flowers planted in the grass to ganging up on anyone who dared to show any interest in getting to know her. Shizuko didn't mind their actions for the most part, but when it came to conflict with others, she had to draw the line. Some of them had been grumbling about the attention she had showed to her classmate Caro Shaw the other day when Shizuko helped her other classmate Kara save Caro from one of her <em>other<em> classmates, Kobayashi Ayumi. Shizuko had just been trying to do what was right; she would not let anyone be punished for it.

A slight presence appeared behind her, and Shizuko sat up and turned to see who had decided to join her on her favorite branch. She was greeted with Zazie's unblinking gaze.

"Hello, Zazie-san," she said.

Zazie just pointed down at the ground in response; Shizuko leaned out over her branch and looked down, and sure enough, there was something that needed to be done. She looked back up at the strange, mostly silent girl. "Thank you, Zazie-san."

Zazie just shook her head and gave a miniature smile before focusing her attention on climbing back up to her usual spot.

Shizuko eased herself down off her branch and clung to the trunk of the tree, working her way down with the ease of a veteran tree climber before coming down just far enough over to remain unseen by either of the other two parties at the base of the tree. She waited for a moment, listening to their conversation.

* * *

><p>"<em>Where is it<em>?" Chihomi demanded in a hiss as she backed Ayumi up against the massive trunk of the world tree.

Ayumi's eyes darted around as she tried to come up with an answer that would satisfy the psycho. There were other people around, but none of them were paying any attention to what was happening; a moment later, she realized why: Chihomi's stance, expression, and everything but the look in her eyes and the hissing way she spoke made her appear to be nothing but a playful friend, if one who tended to get a little too close. To the outside world, Chihomi looked as if she might have been Ayumi's best friend. "I-I don't know," she said.

"That pair of scissors is very important to me," Chihomi said as she went right on grinning at her, her eyes eerily piercing. She stood up straighter in a pose of girlish playfulness, her hands behind her, her head dipped slightly forward, her eyes promising untold horrors should Ayumi lie to her. "How do you expect me to cut things without them, hmm?"

"W-what do you cut?" Ayumi asked in horrified fascination at the idea.

Chihomi's grin widened to a disturbing degree. "Oh, I don't know. Paper, tape, hair, a little nip here and there where no one can see, you know, the usual."

Ayumi's eyes went wide as saucers. "I-I-I don't believe you! Y-you're lying!"

Chihomi shrugged. "Maybe. But then again, maybe I'm not, right? You'll never know 'til you find out!" She bent at the waist and leaned over, holding her face a few inches from Ayumi's as she reached out and took Ayumi's chin in her hand. "...want to find out?"

"That will be enough, I think," a familiar voice said. Chihomi froze on the spot, still holding Ayumi's chin; Ayumi got a good look at the brief flicker of outright panic in the scary girl's eyes before she let go and stood up straight.

Chihomi heaved a theatrical sigh and turned to the newcomer, who, now that she was free to look, Ayumi recognized as her classmate Takahashi Shizuko, the girl who had, along with Kara, stopped her from...whatever she had been about to do to Caro. Ayumi started to edge away, but Takahashi pinned her in place with a glance.

"Stay there; I need to talk to you," Shizuko said.

"Oh? If it isn't that dopey little lazy girl," Chihomi said, resuming her girlish stance as she shot her best psycho stare at Shizuko. "I guess I'll just have to include you in my play time as well, right? What do you prefer, the tongue or the ear?" Chihomi waited for Shizuko's horrified reaction, grinning.

Shizuko just _looked _at her.

Ayumi could tell Chihomi was a little taken aback at Takahashi's non-reaction.

Chihomi snarled at her. "You'd better not underestimate me! I even cut a teacher once!"

Shizuko cocked an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't respond and, more importantly, refused to break her gaze.

Chihomi tensed up and Ayumi thought she was about to do something horrible when Shizuko reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of shears Ayumi recognized as the very same pair she had threatened Caro with before.

"That's mine...!" Chihomi said, reaching out for the pair of shears.

Shizuko's eyes took on a look Ayumi had never seen before, a mix of utter confidence and terrifying competency as she held them up, took hold of both handles, and, with a quick jerk, snapped the pair of shears into two pieces.

"_No_...!" Chihomi screamed, and leaped at Shizuko.

Shizuko simply...stepped aside, stuck her leg out, and hooked Chihomi's foot with her own as she stumbled past. Shizuko kicked Chihomi's foot back up high behind her to prevent any attempt at regaining her balance, and Chihomi hit the dirt with a cry an instant later. Shizuko knelt down and helped her up, then pointed her in the right direction and sent her away with a shove that was just a hair too hard.

Ayumi gaped as Chihomi shuffled away oddly, tugging at her uniform skirt and keeping her legs together as she sent fearful glances back at Shizuko.

"...what did you _do_ to her?" Ayumi asked, temporarily forgetting about her own problems in light of the other girl's bizarre behavior.

"I cut a couple of insignificant pieces of cloth," Shizuko replied, an odd sort of confidence in her tone as she began spinning half of a pair of shears with one finger. She abruptly shoved it back into her bag, closed her eyes, and looked away. When she again turned her attention to Ayumi, she was the same Takahashi that Ayumi knew from class.

Shizuko sat down a couple feet away, a comfortable distance, but not so far as to make things awkward.

Ayumi looked down at her shaking hands and clasped them together in her lap as she drew her knees up to her chest; she felt weak and jittery and didn't trust her legs to hold her up if she tried to walk away. She snuck a peek at Shizuko out of the corner of her eye; the other girl simply sat there, leaning back against the tree as if nothing had happened. '_But she helped Kara when she...when I...the other day_,' Ayumi thought nervously, carefully avoiding any thoughts about what she had been about to do to Caro, and what Kara had done to her to stop her. Even Ayumi herself didn't know what she had been about to do...the situation had been completely out of control, and she hadn't known what she was going to do from one horrifying instant to the next. She didn't want anyone to know, but finding herself holding that pair of shears in Caro's face had been _terrifying_.

"You're scared, aren't you?"

Shizuko's tone was warm, kind, patient...but Ayumi nearly jumped out of her skin anyway. "N-no! I'm not scared at all! Don't talk about things you don't know anything about!" she said viciously.

Shizuko appeared singularly unaffected by her outburst. "It's okay if you're scared, you know; anyone would be in a situation like yours."

"You don't know anything about my situation," Ayumi growled, turning away to hide how white her face had become at Shizuko's shockingly accurate look into her psyche. She brought her knees up tight against her chest.

Shizuko nodded. "That's true." Ayumi felt increasingly awkward in the silence that followed that statement by her classmate, and was about to tell her to go away when Shizuko spoke again. "That's true for everyone. Everyone has their own situation. I may not know yours, but you don't know mine either, or Kara-san's, or Caro-chan's. Did you know Caro just wants to be your friend?" she asked, looking up at the branches of the world tree.

Ayumi jerked at that, stunned. She couldn't quite believe the idea that _Caro_ of all people wanted to be her friend, and it confused her more than she wanted to admit. Before Ayumi had a chance to recover from the shock, Shizuko spoke again.

"Kara-san wants to stay friends with you too; she's very worried..."

Ayumi just looked at Shizuko as her mind ground to a halt, her doubts and self loathing, having run wild for days by this point, combined with a lack of sleep had left her utterly exhausted, barely able to form coherent speech at times. She was tired, worn down by stress and loneliness and her own imagination running wild, and she just wanted to lie down somewhere and die...

...but Caro wanted to be her friend. Kara wanted to _stay_ her friend, even after what Kara had done to her...

Ayumi realized she was about to start crying and quickly wiped away the moisture building in her eyes, to no avail. She shook her head to clear it. '_No! I am not going to cry! I'm _**not**_!_' she thought in desperation. '_I can't cry here, there are _people _here_!' Not to mention the fact that Shizuko was _right there_, and while Ayumi couldn't recall ever really interacting with the other girl before that particular moment in time, she just _knew_ Shizuko would go spreading rumors about how she was such a crybaby...

And then, much to her horror, her throat hitched and she sniffled.

It was as if a floodgate had been opened. There was nothing Ayumi could do: tears started falling and wouldn't stop. She buried her face in her hands to hide her tears and tried to hold her breath to keep from letting out those humiliating little inarticulate sounds one makes when crying, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone. She did her best to hold everything back, but it just wasn't enough, could never be enough. She let out a muffled squeal, unable to stop herself, and then a feeling of warmth wrapped around her and, for a fleeting instant, she thought one word: '_Mama_...?'

But no, she had never really known her mother. She tried to pull away, but Shizuko refused to let go.

"Shh, it will be okay."

Ayumi shrunk in on herself, humiliation at the need to be consoled warring with an honest desire to just cry her heart out on someone else's shoulder for the first time since her father had died, all those years ago. In the end, the overwhelming stress of the past few weeks won out over public embarrassment, and she let out a wail and buried her face in Shizuko's shoulder, sobbing wildly and clinging to the other girl like a lifeline. She was so wrapped up in her own misery that she barely heard Shizuko's reassurances, hardly felt the other girl patting her back or rocking her back and forth in a comforting manner. She didn't see Zazie standing nearby, or feel the barrier that had sprung up around her and Shizuko, preventing them from gaining the attention of the other people in the world tree plaza, going about their day to day business. Instead, she cried.

She cried and cried and cried, and cried and cried and cried and cried, and Shizuko stayed with her the whole time.

When at last Ayumi had cried herself out, she found herself too exhausted to move from the comfortable position she had found half in Shizuko's lap. Nevertheless, her face heated up in embarrassment as she realized what the situation must have looked like to all the people walking around. It was _mortifying_."...I want to die..."

"It's not as bad as all that," Shizuko said, her voice calm and collected, a pillar of stability.

Ayumi sighed in resignation and dragged herself away from Shizuko, who released her immediately. She was exhausted; she hadn't cried that hard in _years_. She knew she had to look like a mess, with her face and eyes puffy from all the tears she had shed and the small amount of makeup she had put on that morning probably smeared all over her face... she pulled out a mirror and was surprised to find no streaks or smears; it took her a moment longer to recall that she hadn't even bothered to put on makeup that morning. Her eyes were still puffy, but she didn't look as bad as she had been afraid she might. She let out a breath and pocketed her mirror, and leaned back against the tree, trying to collect her thoughts. Her mind was a swirl of emotion; she was tired, as exhausted as she had ever been, and she didn't know what to do. She looked around, her gaze drifting from the small bakery that sold those cakes she liked to a woman walking with a child to a bench on which sat four younger students, without really _seeing_ them. A girl who reminded her of Miyako walked by, and she was again reminded of her band and the situation she had fallen into. "What do I do now...?" she muttered to herself.

"Apologize," came Shizuko's prompt answer.

Ayumi blushed at having been overheard, but didn't snap at the girl like she might have earlier in the day; she didn't have the energy to do much more than give the other girl a half-hearted glare that was half pout.

"Apologize to Caro, apologize to Kara. If you don't, nothing will be settled," Shizuko said, as if such a thing was too easy to even think about.

Ayumi ground her teeth for a moment as she tried to get her addled mind to come up with a suitable retort. ...it wasn't easy, not as tired as she was. "Why should I go groveling back to _them_?" she finally said, practically spitting the last word. "After what they did to me-"

"After what you almost did to Caro," Shizuko supplied, smoothly cutting off Ayumi's rising voice with a curt, motherly tone.

Ayumi looked at the other girl, appalled. "After-"

"After you pulled a pair of shears on Caro," Shizuko said, still leaning back against the tree. "After you skipped school for two weeks and made your friends worry. After that incident in the baths."

Ayumi just stared at the other girl, another blush climbing her cheeks as she wondered what other incidents Shizuko knew about. "How can you-"

"-talk about this so easily?" Shizuko offered. She smiled; it certainly _looked_ like a normal smile, but it made Ayumi nervous nonetheless. "Because when I see a little girl lost in the snow, I can't help but try and lead her to safety, if she'll only take my hand. So tell me, Ayumi. Will you take my hand?" Shizuko said, turning her head to look at Ayumi as she held out her hand.

"Y...you're crazy," Ayumi said in order to hide the powerful urge to take Shizuko's hand.

Shizuko grinned. "Maybe a little," she said, lowering her hand as she looked back up at the tree. "Then again, so is everyone, a little. It's what makes us human, you know. You still need help, though, and I'm willing to give it."

Ayumi leaned back against the tree again, looking up at the branches high above her as she tried to figure out what to do. There were too many thoughts swirling through her mind, and she couldn't make herself focus on anything save the idea Shizuko had put into her head. '_Apologize..._,' she thought to herself. She couldn't remember the last time she had given anyone a real apology; she hadn't felt the need to in a long, long time. But...

"_-you pulled a pair of shears on Caro-"_

Ayumi frowned. '_I guess I did go a little too far, huh?_' she reluctantly admitted to herself. She couldn't recall just _why_ she had picked up the pair of shears Chihomi had dropped, but they had been there in her bag, just waiting for her to grab them when the time was right...or wrong, as it so happened. "I...I guess..." '_I guess you're right,'_ she didn't say aloud. She didn't want to admit Shizuko was right, but... She glanced at the other girl, who sat with a slight smile on her face as she looked up at the sky. '_She probably knows I know,_' she thought. It was strange...Ayumi hadn't had a clue Takahashi Shizuko of all people would be so...so _wise_ seeming.

Ayumi sighed and pushed herself upright, wobbling for a moment before her legs decided they wanted to do their job and hold her up. Ayumi didn't say anything to get her attention, but Shizuko looked over at her, giving her a bright smile.

Ayumi gave her a wary look.

"Good luck," Shizuko said gently.

* * *

><p>Kara Stride stared down at her bookbag as it sat on her bed after another long day of school. "Ayumi..."<p>

Ayumi still hadn't returned to class, and Kara was really starting to get worried about her. Where _was_ she, anyway?! Kara didn't know, and Miyako said she only came back to her dorm room just before curfew and went straight to sleep.

Kara just couldn't stay angry at the other girl; sure, the image of Ayumi threatening Caro with that pair of shears that kept popping up in her head was infuriating, but...

"Dammit Ayumi, why do you have to be so stupid?" she muttered viciously as she swept her bookbag off her bed and threw herself down on the bed in its place, lying on her back and draping an arm over her face. "Stupid headache..." she mumbled to herself. For several days now she had been suffering from pounding headaches that seemed to be focused almost directly behind her eyes. It hadn't been all that bad until she had woken up that morning; it had pounded with every heartbeat all through the school day, and it hurt enough to make her eyes all watery and itchy.

She dragged her arm across her closed eyes to wipe away some of moisture. It only made her eyes itch more.

"Dammit..." she muttered again in English, a brief thrill of excitement running through her at the use of the word; her mother would never have approved. She could take the headaches, she could take itchy eyes, but both of them together and at such a level? It was incredibly irritating. Add to that the amount of worry she'd been dealing with about Ayumi—who, Kara thought peevishly, should be the one doing the worrying instead of her—and her roommate Possum, who had only returned just the other day...Kara was starting to feel overwhelmed. "Stupid Ayumi," she muttered again.

Her eyes were itching like crazy, down _inside_ somehow.

Kara shot up to a seated position on the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes fiercely, but it offered no relief. '_Is it my contacts...?' _she wondered. She stumbled her way to the bathroom and fumbled in the small cupboard there for her eye drops. A moment later, she cursed aloud; the eye drops had only made things worse. "Dammit!" she said aloud, increasingly irritated at the itching sensation she couldn't seem to get rid of. She took out her contacts and turned on the water faucet to wash her face and hands. She was only halfway through when someone knocked on the door.

"It's unlocked!" she said loudly enough for whoever was visiting to hear. She was too distracted to think much about it, focused as she was on washing out her eyes. A flash of color in her reflection in the mirror caught her attention, and she frowned, moving closer to the mirror to see better; her vision was really quite bad without her contacts. She fumbled for the small case that held them with one hand as she leaned in close to the mirror, squinting.

A sudden flash of iridescent light in her reflection made her jerk her head back at the same time as another flareup of itchiness made her rub her eyes frantically.

'_What is _wrong_ with me...?_'

She wasn't aware of the other person poking their head around the open bathroom door, didn't even really recall that anyone had knocked on the door by that point; the itchiness in her eyes held all her attention.

"Um...Kara...?"

* * *

><p>"Kara...?" Ayumi said awkwardly. Kara didn't react to her voice, just kept rubbing her eyes in front of the bathroom mirror. She just stood there for a moment, confused and increasingly irritated. Was Kara ignoring her, after she had come all this way to apologize and taken so long to clean herself up?<p>

"Rrgh!" Kara let out a growl of frustration and continued rubbing her eyes.

Ayumi swallowed back her pride and plunged ahead. "Kara, I'm, I...I'm...I mean...I came to, to say I'm s-sorry." '_There, I said it_,' she thought reproachfully.

"Graa_GH...!"_ Kara let out another frustrated growl as the speed with which she was rubbing her eyes picked up.

Ayumi was taken aback. She cut off the retort that seemed to come up of its own accord and clenched her teeth as she waited for Kara to respond; instead, the other girl just kept rubbing her eyes. Ayumi watched nervously for a moment. Kara was being awfully rough... "Are you sure you should be doing that so hard?" she asked after a moment. "What's wrong, did you get something in your eye?"

"It _itches_, dammit!" Kara all but shouted.

Ayumi heaved an irritated sigh. '_Such a stupid situation,'_ she thought reproachfully as she reached forward and grabbed Kara's forearms. Kara tried to pull away, so Ayumi went with it and made her back up until she almost tripped over the toilet and sat down hard on it, nearly tipping over backward.

"Hey...!" Kara shouted, still rubbing her eyes.

"Stop being a baby," Ayumi said as she finally managed to jerk Kara's hands away from her eyes. "I swear, you're just like—" Ayumi's voice cut off the instant she caught sight of Kara's eyes.

Normally quite a pretty shade of blue, the other girl's eyes had taken on a swirling mass of iridescent color, hypnotically beautiful to look at. "...your eyes..." she said, suddenly finding it quite difficult to think, much less speak. 'S_o pretty...' _

She distantly realized Kara was acting as strange as she herself felt; Kara was staring at her, a predatory gleam like a big cat's in her eyes as she stood up and moved forward, her form suddenly moving in a highly disconcerting slinking manner. Ayumi backed up a step; whatever was going on, the one in front of her wasn't Kara. Her mind came up with dozens of explanations for such an absurd idea even though she felt slow and stupid: split personality, stroke, demonic possession...

"S-stay away from me," Ayumi said, backing out through the bathroom door. She tried to shut it and lock Kara inside, but Kara darted forward and tackled her to the ground before she could react. Ayumi laid there for a moment, dazed, before her mind cleared again and she realized Kara was on top of her, her face inches away as her gaze locked with Ayumi's, that alien presence still in place. "G-get off..." _'A dozen kids, give or take...'_

Kara cocked her head to the side, then ducked down and kissed her on the mouth. Hard. And she wouldn't stop.

Ayumi tried to fight her off, but those hypnotic eyes kept staring at her and, feeling strangely weak and unmotivated, she soon let her arms fall to the floor and stopped fighting as she gave in to the sensation of the other girl straddling her and doing...whatever she was doing with her tongue.

"Holy _SHIT!"_

Kara immediately looked up at the doorway, from which a voice Ayumi dimly recalled as belonging to her classmate Possum Cade had come. Why was Possum there...? Ayumi wanted to shake her head to clear it, but she didn't have the energy. All she could think of was those hypnotically beautiful eyes as they stared into hers...

Ayumi barely even noticed the sounds of a brief struggle out in the hallway; they seemed distant, unimportant to her as she laid there on the floor, giggling lightly now and again.

"...heheh...heheheh..."

The sound of someone shouting came to her, only to be suddenly muffled. "...heh...Possum too," Ayumi said aloud. "...joined us too...heh heheh...heheh..."

* * *

><p>Student Number fourteen, Yoshida Ume, heaved an irritated sigh and smacked her pencil down on the top of her study desk. "How am I supposed to get any homework done if they're fooling around in the halls?" she said hotly to herself as another series of thumping noises, giggles and other sounds she couldn't quite make out drifted through the door. "Honestly..." Her dorm mates were so <em>noisy<em> sometimes...! '_Like a bunch of little kids,' _she thought reproachfully. She closed her textbook and headed for the door, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath and hide her irritated expression, quickly replacing it with the friendly one she always showed to her classmates. She opened the door, fully prepared to guilt trip whoever she found outside...but what she saw made her freeze in place.

Possum was on the floor of the hallway, Kara was on top of her, and their lips were touching.

Ume's eyes went wide and her face went red as her mind went into overdrive. _'Kara is kissing Possum..._Kara _is kissing _Possum_!' _She had a brief thought of something along the lines of 'Weirdo Americans' before Kara suddenly looked up at her and Ume caught sight of her eyes, and the bright swirls of color where there had only been blue before.

Ume hesitated, and that was her downfall; Kara was on her an instant later.

* * *

><p>Up and down the halls she went, thoroughly kissing anyone she found. Those who were kissed were uniformly left giggling on the floor until they, too, stood back up and began searching for survivors. Inside of twenty minutes, almost everyone on the floor that housed the second year students of Class 2-A as well as the floors above and below was infected.<p>

_Almost _everyone.

* * *

><p>Suzuki Keiko snapped upright, a piece of paper falling from where it had become stuck to her cheek when she had fallen asleep at the desk in her room. She glanced at the digital alarm clock that she kept on the dresser, and frowned. "Mako's not back yet?" she said aloud, only then realizing just how quiet the building seemed to be. Normally at this time of day, the place would be full of girls moving around and talking out in the hallways. Instead, she heard...nothing. Mako's absence was more worrying, however...she was always back early unless she was out with Sato-san, in which case she would have called. She had an understanding with Mako...the two of them looked out for each other; Mako was a sensitive girl, she needed to be treated carefully, and Keiko helped her deal with any problems that came up. They were quite good friends, in their own quiet way. Keiko wasn't crazy about Mako's other friend Sato-san—the girl was far too sarcastic for her liking—but Mako seemed to like her well enough. She had just gotten up out of her chair when someone started yelling somewhere on her floor. She went to the door, frowning, and looked out through the peephole. She couldn't make out what was being said—it was far too muffled by the walls and door—but it sounded as if someone was panicking and shouting.<p>

Keiko hesitated. Was there a fire...? Had the dorm been evacuated? If so, she hadn't heard any alarms, and she didn't smell any smoke... She opened the door a crack and peeked out. Whoever had been freaking out before had quieted down; she couldn't hear anything but silence. And yet...

Keiko frowned. The dorm certainly didn't _feel_ empty. She had been in large, empty buildings before; she knew what it felt like to be alone. When people were around, something, perhaps the very air itself, felt _alive_. Was everyone hiding...? Keiko's frown deepened. Youko had told her to trust her instincts, and her instincts were _screaming _that something was wrong. She crept out into the hallway, pulling the door shut after her, doing her best to do it silently. She went to the next room down, the room shared by Fujiko-san and Chachamaru, and tried the doorknob, which was locked. Chachamaru was never there, but Fujiko tended to come back early and leave the door unlocked until she fell asleep. Keiko's frown grew as she moved on to the next door and tried the knob this one turned under her hand and fell open, and someone jumped out, clapped a hand over her mouth, and yanked her into the room.

Keiko squirmed frantically in the stranger's grip, doing her best to bite the hand that covered her mouth like she had seen people do on TV shows, though she couldn't seem to make it work. She started to kick, and the stranger lifted her up off the floor. With her arms pinned to her sides, she couldn't do much, but—

"Oh come on, _stop it already_!" the stranger hissed into her ear.

Keiko stopped struggling. "Akashi...san?" she asked hesitantly, her voice muffled by the woman's hand. Akashi Yuuna had been assigned as the temporary dorm mother after the previous one freaked out and stormed out of the building, screaming something about 'ignorant brats' a little less than halfway through her month-long duty in the position.

"That's right," the woman replied.

"Why are you in Shizuko and Sophie-san's room?" Keiko asked when Yuuna had let go of her.

"Hiding," Yuuna replied easily enough.

Keiko looked around curiously; she had never been in Shizuko and Sophie's dorm room before; the small amount of light making its way through the heavy curtains covering the closed blinds made everything look spooky...she shivered and moved to stand a little closer to Yuuna. "What's happening...?"

"Dunno," Yuuna said, shrugging as she moved to look out through the peephole in the door. "It's like the whole dorm's gone crazy; I've been in contact with Max, and it looks like it's only this building. Good thing only a few of you guys came back early today. Were there a lot of club meetings today or something?"

Keiko cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "Yes...most of the clubs had mandatory meetings today to discuss new guidelines the school decided on." That was all very interesting, but it didn't answer her question. "Is everyone alright?"

Yuuna glanced back at her, then back at the peephole. "...dunno."

Keiko's eyes widened at that. She liked her classmates, she really did, and she didn't want anything bad to happen to them... "This is scary," she said quietly, hugging herself.

"Yeah," Yuuna said absently, still looking out through the peephole. Keiko didn't think she looked very scared. She was about to speak up with Yuuna suddenly tensed and raised her hand warningly, stepping quietly back from the door. Keiko nervously backed away in the small room until she bumped into the bunk bed, and looked around for something, anything, she could use to defend herself from whatever was outside the door. It took her a moment to spot the baseball bat on the floor at the head of the bed, and she didn't hesitate to pick it up. She knew from her training with Youko and Haru that while most improvised weapons were often useless or worse, having something between you and an attacker was a very, very good thing, even if it was just a stick or, in this case, a bat...and Youko had even shown her how to use it. She wasn't good at it, but she could make someone think twice about trying to get in close.

Yuuna nodded at her and mumbled something under her breath, and Keiko realized the woman was holding a gun. "Electric, like a stun gun," Yuuna said as quietly as she could, never taking her eyes from the door. A moment later, someone startled fumbling with the doorknob, and Keiko tensed. Yuuna signaled for her to be quiet and aimed at what would be chest-height for the average girl.

A door opened and closed with a slam somewhere far down the hallway, making them both jump. Whoever was messing with the doorknob stopped and took off running down the hallway.

Keiko watched in confusion as Yuuna whipped out what looked like some kind of tarot card and started talking to herself. A quick thought ran through her mind: Was Akashi Yuuna some kind of mage...? Youko had told her all about mages and Keiko had seen several at the Youkai Festival, but...wait, Yuuna had talked about 'Max'... Max Linell, the P. E. teacher? Was _he_ a mage, too?

The door came open just as Keiko asked herself that question, and she let out a scream as a woman leaped through, tackling Yuuna to the floor. '_No, that's Kara-san_,' Keiko thought absurdly as she watched her classmate kiss the temporary dorm mother. Yuuna stopped struggling almost immediately and a moment later, Kara looked up at her and Keiko was struck by the swirl of pretty colors in her eyes, almost too much so to think, let alone realize that Kara had already grabbed her.

* * *

><p>"How's the situation?" Asuna asked as she trotted up at a run.<p>

"Bad," Kotarou replied. "Probably some kind of hypnosis," he said, jerking his thumb toward Nodoka, who had her pactio artifact out.

Asuna trotted over to her. "Hey, Honya. How is it?"

Nodoka looked up at her, and Asuna realized she was probably beating herself up for being so responsible as to be there at the dorm rather than with Negi, still lying unresponsive in his hospital bed. "It's bad; Konoka and Setsuna went in there fifteen minutes ago and haven't come out, and now..." she said, looking back down at her book.

Asuna looked at the page. Nodoka had it tuned to Konoka's thoughts, which were simply one word, repeated over and over again: 'Beautiful'. Accompanying it was a drawing of a surprisingly beautiful pair of eyes, even drawn as they were in the sketchy style that showed up most commonly in Nodoka's mind reading book artifact. Toward the bottom of the page, a small phrase broke the string of 'beautiful's: 'A dozen kids to start with...'

"That's..." Asuna said, trailing off. "Wow. I don't know who that is," she said, pointing at the eye drawing, "but it's not Setsuna. Who all's gone in?"

"Konoka and Setsuna of course," Kotarou said. "Ku Fei went in; so did Madoka...Misa got worried and went after her a few minutes ago. We haven't heard from any of them."

Asuna looked back and forth from Nodoka to Kotarou and back. They were the only two present. "Where's everybody else? The new kids?"

"In there," Kotarou said, clear irritation in his voice. "The teaching staff is keeping most of 'em late at the school, but they were too late for some. Nodoka thinks there's something like forty or fifty students in there, plus all the people we sent in," he said, looking increasingly dissatisfied. "I would have gone in, but if whatever's in there got people like Madoka and Ku Fei..."

Asuna nodded. "Not to mention Setsuna and Konoka together," she said in agreement. If whatever was in there got all of _them_, Kotarou alone probably wouldn't be able to handle it; probably even Negi alone wouldn't be able to handle it... She looked up. "Hey, what about Yuuna? Isn't she—"

Asuna cut herself off as the front door of the dorm opened and a girl stepped out, dragging a familiar girl with long purple hair by the wrist as she stepped out onto the steps and paused, looking around as if in a daze as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Even at this distance, Asuna could see with the brilliant swirling colors in the girl's eyes.

"Is that...? Hey, that's Kara, right? In Negi's class? Asuna asked, peering at the girl. Her gaze drifted down to the girl's chest. "Yep, that's Kara." When she didnt' get a response, she glanced at Nodoka, only to find her staring at the girl on the steps. Nodoka dropped her pactio artifact and took a slow step toward the girl. "Hey, Nodoka! Stop it! Kotarou, help me..." Asuna said, trailing off as she looked at Kotarou and saw a wide-eyed, slack expression on his face almost identical to the one Nodoka was wearing. "Hey! Hey you two, snap out of it!" she said, waving her hand in front of Nodoka's face. Kotarou broke into a brisk, stumbling walk toward Kara, and Asuna grabbed Nodoka by the arm before she could do the same. Nodoka shocked her by throwing a wild punch that glanced off Asuna's cheekbone, startling her enough to let go. By the time Asuna realized what had happened, Nodoka was twenty feet away and gaining, and she let her go. "What on Earth...?"

Asuna watched in horror as Kotaoru reached Kara's position only for Kara to grab him by the arm and throw him to the ground as he came in. She then climbed up on top of him and kissed him so thoroughly that it left Asuna gaping. Right about then, Nodoka arrived, and the girl did the same thing to her for a good fifteen seconds before finally standing up and looking around in that same slow way she had used upon first exiting the dorm. "What the h—"

"I see, it's already progressed that far..."

Asuna whirled to see who had snuck up on her, and was surprised to see a stranger, a woman in a sharply tailored skirt suit who looked to be in her late thirties with her hair in an immaculate bun, her expression sharp and unforgiving, and her clothing precise. A girl in her early teens in more casual wear carrying several small black cases in addition to a rather overstuffed backpack stood behind her, trying to catch her breath as if after a long run. "Who are you?" Asuna demanded. "You're not allowed to be here! This place is dangerous—"

The woman cut her off with a sharp glare, not unlike that a teacher might give to a particularly dull student. "You have no idea how dangerous it is, I assure you of that," the woman said, then turned her attention back to Kara, still standing up there on the porch.

"Who _are_ you?" Asuna asked again. She didn't know what to make of the woman at all, much less the whole bizarre situation. What was wrong with Kara? Why had Nodoka and Kotarou run toward her like that? Why had she _kissed _them?! '_None of this makes any sense_!' she thought in frustration. Asuna knew she wasn't the brightest of bulbs, but she felt like she was really missing something here. "What's wrong with Kara?" Asuna demanded. A thought crossed her mind. "Is it something like pheromones?"

"I am her mother," the woman said, glaring at Kara. Asuna glanced back and saw that Kara had locked eyes with her mother. "And you may believe it is pheromones if you wish; it isn't correct, but it's more believable than the truth. Bethany?" the woman said, never breaking the gaze she held locked with Kara even as she held out her hand toward the younger girl, who seemed a little dazed.

Bethany quickly snapped out of it, however. "Did you want the Maggini?" she asked, holding out one of the cases.

"No," the woman said. "The Amati." She accepted the case the girl held out, knelt down and set it on the ground, and opened it up to reveal a rather expensive-looking violin.

Asuna watched her curiously as she prepared the bow by drawing it across a weird little block several times, and then turned her attention back to Kara, who still stood on the steps, her gaze still locked with that of her mother.

"Stand back," the woman said with the air of a strict teacher as she brought her violin up and settled it under her chin. She ran through a couple of quick finger exercises on the violin the same way Asuna had seen Ayaka do, back when she played regularly, and paused for a moment, apparently waiting for something.

Asuna looked down at the strange girl as she took her hand. "What...?"

"Come this way, you're too close," she said, tugging Asuna's hand insistently.

Asuna let the girl lead her away until they were perhaps twenty yards from the woman. "What's going on?" she asked.

"She's going to stop Kara," the girl said, fearful for Kara and yet clearly intrigued.

Asuna looked at her for a moment. "Are you her sister?"

The girl looked up at her, surprised, and nodded, smiling. "Yes. I'm Bethany Stride, pleased to meet you," she said, holding out her hand.

Asuna took it in her own. "Kagurazaka Asuna, nice to meet you, too," she said, shaking the girl's hand. "Is that your mother?" she asked, gesturing at the woman, who was running through a rather bright and upbeat little tune on her violin, picking up speed the whole while.

Bethany nodded. "Yes, we're here to—"

Bethany was cut off as her mother abruptly drew the bow sharply across the strings of her violin to create an eardrum-shredding squealing hiss.

The steps Kara was standing on promptly exploded, sending her and her three most recent victims flying.

"What the fu—"

The woman had kept playing after creating that first squeal, and Asuna was cut off herself as the woman did it again, and again, and again. Asuna had seen music-based magic before, but never had she seen it used so expertly. The woman slowed her playing for a moment, settling into a simple piece that even Asuna, with her almost complete lack of musical training, couldn't mistake as having been written as anything more than practice for a beginner.

"Why is she still playing?" Asuna asked. She had only seen a couple mages who used musical instruments in the past, but neither one of them had bothered with anything beyond making noise with their instruments...Kara's mother was doing something _different_, and Asuna found it quite intriguing. "Does it have something to do with power?"

Bethany nodded. "Yes, you're exactly right! Music has power; anyone who's ever been to a good concert knows that," she said helpfully. "If you combine the power of music with a natural talent for manipulating it and skill in playing, you can do all sorts of things," she said, finishing up with a bright smile.

Asuna smiled back; she couldn't help but like the girl, and what she said made a certain kind of sense; Asuna personally knew all four members of one of the best local bands in the area, after all; music did indeed carry power. She looked back toward the front of the dorm, only to see a figure stumble up to its feet in the drifting dust still present from the woman's attack.

"Bethany, accompaniment," the woman said, barking it like an order.

"Yes!" Bethany said as she quickly put the instrument cases she was carrying on the ground, slipped off her backpack, and opened the snaps on the biggest case. She opened it up and pulled out what Asuna supposed was probably some kind of cello; to her eyes, it looked just like the violin Bethany's mother was using, but bigger and thicker...not quite as large as Asuna thought a cello was supposed to be, though.

Bethany looked up at Asuna after putting rosin on her bow. "Ah, please set up that folding seat in the backpack, okay?" she asked pleasantly.

"Er...sure," Asuna said as she dug into the over-full backpack while Bethany's mother continued playing, slowly picking up more speed and complexity as she went. "Here it is."

"Great! Please put it there," the girl said, pointing to an out of the way spot.

Her part done, Asuna stepped back out of the way and tried to peer through the dust clouds in a failing attempt to figure out who was standing up over there. She couldn't see, but she had a feeling it was Kara... Then Bethany started in on her cello, matching her mother's tempo with ease, her own instrument's deeper tone supporting the violin—and the power its music carried—wonderfully.

"Faster," Bethany's mother said sternly.

"Yes," Bethany replied, adjusting her playing.

Asuna shivered and the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up as something seemed to click into place between the two musicians and the air suddenly felt charged with electricity. She looked back at the shadowy figure only to see it had been joined by a second. The second one held something out, and the first figure took hold of it, reached up as if putting something over its shoulder, and lowered its hand.

"Oh, hell," Bethany's mother muttered under her breath.

The sound of a plucked open E string on a bass guitar amplified to an extent no normal amplifier could manage, shook Asuna down to her bones. Bethany let out a startled cry and her mother let out an almost silent grunt as the the neck of her violin snapped away from the body. Asuna had just managed to catch her breath when the sound came again, and again, and again, stronger each time. She fell back to the ground on her butt and clamped her hands over her ears; she could almost feel her teeth rattling.

"Bethany," the older woman said, standing tall and her voice steady in spite of the havoc the steadily strengthening beat was wreaking on both her daughter and Asuna. "Move back."

Bethany crawled back on her hands and knees until Asuna helped her up and the two made their way further back, until they were far enough to withstand the thrust of the bassist's musical assault.

"I didn't know that girl could do anything like _this_," Asuna said.

Bethany's smile was haggard, but it was a smile. "Yes, she's really very good...way better than I am," the girl said, just a hint of sibling rivalry in her voice.

Bethany's mother looked down at the broken violin in her hands. "A pity," she said aloud. "That Amati was almost four hundred years old. I will be sure to wring every dollar of its repair fee out of you, daughter of mine," she said, dropping the remains of the violin at her feet and stepping away from it, ignoring the power of the bass beat assaulting her. She reached up and pulled the hairpin that kept her hair in a bun and let it fall free, a waterfall of shiny brown hair identical to Kara's hanging all the way down to the small of her back. She unbuttoned her fancy suit jacket and undid the top three buttons of the white shirt she wore beneath.

"You have underestimated me, daughter," she said, her voice ringing through the sounds of Kara's bass guitar.

She raised her left hand high in the air, her stance wide, and a shape began to crystallize into existence. It took the shape of a glowing line a few feet long, slowly expanding at the bottom until it formed a sort of upside-down 'V' shape, while the upper half straightened, the upper tip forming a similar, if much smaller, bulge as the other end.

Bethany's mother grabbed the glowing shape with her hand, and it snapped into existence with a blast of sound.

"That's..." Bethany said, stunned at her mother's actions.

"I'd know that shape anywhere," Asuna said, surprised. "That's a Flying V..." She realized Bethany was looking at her, and hastened to explain. "A friend of mine really likes that style of guitar," she said, recalling how many guitars of that particular shape Ako owned. She knew Ako would love this one as well, though she thought this particular example was more Misa or Madoka's style. Gleaming blood red and black, it was a real beauty. Bethany's mother slipped the wide leather strap up and over her head to hold the guitar in place.

"I didn't know she could play..." Bethany said, clearly in awe.

"You've done well, daughter of mine," Bethany's mother said. "But let's see how you fare against _this_."

A shining pick shimmered to life in Bethany's mother's right hand, the fingers of her left pressed down on the strings to form a chord, and she brought the pick down.

The sound that rang out across the city was like nothing it had ever heard before, a sound no normal guitar, no matter how well built, had ever managed to achieve; students looked up from books, shoppers stopped arguing over every last yen, babies laughed, the elderly smiled, and desperate office workers recalled what it was like to dream again. A fierce and primal joy burst into life within every heart that sound managed to reach, and the steady bass rhythm came to an abrupt halt as the ground exploded under Kara's feet. She was thrown screaming through the air to land in a heap fifty feet away.

Asuna tried to rush forward; the impact from that had been _far_ stronger than what had come before, but Bethany's mother held out her hand.

"Wait."

"But—"

"She's right!" Bethany called out from behind her. "Listen! Don't you feel it?"

Asuna paused for a moment, doubtfully, unsure of what she was supposed to be listening for. A long, near-silent moment passed before she heard it: the deep _thrum_ of an E string played open on a bass guitar.

"I sheared the neck from her bass with that last one," Bethany's mother said in a matter of fact tone, her long hair flying in the gusty wind as the bass note repeated again and again before branching out into different notes as it the bassline began to gain speed, volume, and complexity.

Asuna's eyes widened. "She's—"

"I wasn't aware she could summon one of these," the woman replied as she moved her guitar to a more comfortable position, then glanced back at Asuna, her eyes bright and vivid and full of devilry so unlike the mask she had first presented. "I wasn't aware she could play at all, and I had intended that she never learn. Kara is dangerous, after all." Asuna couldn't help but notice the huge, excited grin the woman couldn't seem to hide.

The sound of the bass note abruptly filled out, the sudden change staggering Asuna, while Bethany cried out and fell to the ground. Kara's mother stood straighter than ever, brought her pick up, and went into a series of power chords, faster and faster, climbing up the neck of the guitar in a complex series of chords and single notes as power built before slipping into a blazingly fast series of notes unlike anything Asuna had ever heard before. She had heard Misa and Madoka both at their fastest, but neither one could approach Kara's mother. She thought Ako might have been able to manage it eventually, but it would take her years of practice to regularly approach that level.

Kara's mother finished it up with a tremendously loud power chord that cut through the bassline Kara was playing, cut through the swirling dust in the air so that Asuna caught a glimpse of Kara, holding her own instrument, an unsteadily glowing guitar shaped not unlike her now-destroyed Rickenbacker bass, just for an instant before the power reached her.

Kara stood in the path of that power, her hair wild and her uniform bloody and ragged, her skin bruised and torn yet still playing, until the force hit her, throwing her through the air like a ragdoll, arms and legs flung out limply until she hit the side of the dorm building, bounced off, and hit the ground, unmoving.

Kara's mother stood there a moment as the sound from her guitar slowly faded away, and finally relaxed. She let go of the guitar's neck, and it shattered into a myriad of tiny glittering shards that faded from existence before they reached the ground. She glanced back at Asuna and Bethany, still unable to lose the excited grin she had been wearing throughout the duel with Kara, and spoke.

"It's over."

* * *

><p>The first thing Kara felt was her body and the way it ached all over, as if she had been hit by a freight train.<p>

"Urgh," she said intelligently. '_What's going on...?'_ she thought woozily. '_What happened to me?_' She felt worse than she could remember feeling even after the worst of her training sessions with her mother. The last thing she could remember, Ayumi had shown up in her room, and then...what? She didn't know; she had a vague feeling that some amount of time had passed between Ayumi's appearance and waking up in the hospital, but she couldn't for the life of her recall what had happened between.

"Heya big sis. I must say, I'm impressed you learned how to play bass like that so fast."

Kara groaned again; she had made the mistake of trying to breathe. She worked her eyes open and sat staring up at the clean, sterile ceiling above her for a moment. "What...?" Her eyes widened as she realized who had just spoken, and she winced as she turned her head to see her little sister Bethany, that Asuna woman she had seen a lot with Negi-sensei, and, worst of all, her mother. Here. In Japan. Kara started to panic; if her mother was here in Japan, that meant that she knew Kara had been lying in her many letters back home about a great many things.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, daughter of mine."

Kara started to sweat. By the set of her mother's mouth, Kara knew she was in big, BIG trouble. Any lingering thoughts about how she had ended up in a hospital fled her mind.

"Ah, er...hello, mother," Kara managed to say.

"You have been a bad, bad girl," her mother said, standing up from her chair and moving to the side of the bed.

Kara tried to swallow the sudden lump in her throat as she looked up at her mother fearfully, the woman's sharp suit and hair perfect in a terrifyingly businesslike way.

Kara's mother stood there for a long, long moment as she looked down at her, and finally heaved a sigh, knelt down beside the bed, and pulled Kara up into a hug. Kara's arms went up almost of their own accord to return the hug, and tears started to fall.

"I'm sorry for lying, mama, I'm really sorry! I just wanted to fit in..."

Asuna and Bethany wisely took the opportunity to exit the room.

Asuna pulled the door shut behind her as she followed Bethany out into the hallway. The two of them stood there awkwardly for a long, long moment before Asuna decided to break the silence.

"So, have you ever seen anything like that before?" she said, looking over at Bethany. "The whole 'making guitars come out of the air' thing?"

Bethany shook her head, looking quite distracted. "No...I didn't know either one of them could do that."

Asuna waited for Bethany to continue, but the girl seemed to be determined to clam up. "I couldn't help but notice you were pretty good with that cello. That _was_ a cello, right?"

Silence. Bethany nodded a moment later.

Asuna heaved a sigh. '_And she was so talkative before..._,' Asuna thought. '_Is she worried about Kara? Or...oh. Oh._' She sneaked another look at Bethany from the corner of her eye. Now that she looked at her, she realized the girl seemed quite troubled. Jealousy of her mother's show of affection for her big sister...? Asuna nodded to herself. Most likely. Though she didn't have much—or any—experience in such matters herself, she knew it was dangerous ground...she would have to tread carefully. "Kara was pretty cool there for a while, wasn't she?" Asuna asked, then mentally kicked herself when she realized how the girl might take that. Bethany's reply, however, surprised her.

Bethany made a little smile. "Yeah...it looks like she's become pretty cool, doesn't it?" She paused a moment, her eyes distant and unreadable. "I saw a video of her playing in a band up on a big stage, you know? I almost couldn't believe it was her..."

"Oh, that was at the festival last month, wasn't it?" Asuna said.

Bethany nodded. "She's changed a lot. Did you know she used to only wear what mama wanted her to wear? Button up shirts and slacks?" She waited until Asuna shook her head. "I showed her some different stuff she could wear, but I was worried about her...did she ever find any friends here?" she asked, looking at Asuna.

Asuna grinned crookedly. "Yeah. From what I hear, they made a band of their own—it's not the one you saw from the festival, she was just subbing for the usual bass player there—and I hear they're pretty good. I'll have to get a copy of the video from when they played in some kind of band tournament back in May. I think they won second or third place...? Pretty good for a new band," Asuna said, grinning as she recalled some of the incidents Misa and the others had gotten into over the years. "How long are you two going to be in Mahora?" she asked.

"I dunno," Bethany said, shrugging. "Mama hadn't even planned on coming here until she saw that video of Kara playing online. I think she'll want to meet up with somebody from the shinmei—er, pretend you didn't hear that," she said nervously, cutting herself off. "Okay?"

Asuna cocked an eyebrow as she gave the girl a measuring gaze. "You know about the Shinmeiryu, huh?"

Bethany looked away, embarrassed at having spoken of such a secret thing. "Err...wait...you know about them too?" she asked, looking up at Asuna.

Asuna grinned. "Know about 'em? I'm a member!" she said proudly. "What do you need with the Shinmeiryu?"

"Well..." Bethany said, trailing off as she looked at the door to Kara's room. "Our family dojo was started by a former member who moved to the US a hundred or so years ago; mama hopes to become realigned with them to help keep us going; they sent an ambassador a while back, but they went back to Japan a little later and we haven't heard a word back. Plus, we've had trouble lately...someone's trying to force us to shut down," she said by way of explanation upon seeing Asuna's curious look.

"Oh, I see," Asuna said as she tried to recall what she knew about the Shinmeiryu's history. She knew that members had gone off on their own to other lands to establish their own dojos many times since the start of the school. Some had merged with local styles and all but vanished, such as the Dragon's Fist school in China; others had gained enough of a foothold to maintain their identity, but none were as strong as the original, founded in Kyoto. "What's your branch's name?"

Bethany smiled awkwardly. "Er..." she mumbled the name; Asuna couldn't understand what she said.

"Say again?"

Bethany let out a sigh. "...Sakura's Lie," she said in English. "It's kind of an embarrassing name..."

Asuna blinked. It certainly was...original. Who was Sakura? And why did she lie? Asuna shook it off. "W-well, I just happen to be in a position to help you guys, I think." She couldn't help but smile when Bethany perked up immediately. "I happen to know the future head of the Shinmeiryu herself," Asuna said, grinning in amusement at the way Bethany's face lit up.

"Really? _Really _really?" Bethany asked. At Asuna's nod, she let out an excited squeal. "Oh mama's going to be so happy!"

"Eh heh...heh." Asuna wondered how Konoka would react to these people, but shrugged it off. Konoka liked everybody...it'd be fine.

* * *

><p>"State your name," Takahata Takamichi said as he and Shizuna began the questioning of Kara's mother some time later.<p>

"Alyssa Stride," the woman replied, her expression distant and unreadable.

Takamichi recorded her name on the questionnaire he was working from, and continued on to the next question. "Date of birth?"

"October twenty fifth, nineteen seventy-nine," the woman said, fixing him with a stare.

Takamichi carefully ignored the surprised sound Shizuna made as he recorded the date. He glanced up from the paper and saw the challenge in her eyes. If she had been born in nineteen seventy nine, she would have just turned fifteen when her first daughter Kara had been born. Looking her in the eye now, he had no doubt she was fully aware of what most people thought about that sort of thing, and was ready to argue if he showed any sign of looking down on her. "Reason for coming to Mahora?" he asked.

Alyssa Stride's eyebrows went up at his lack of questioning about her personal life, but answered the question smoothly. "To prevent my daughter from making a fatal mistake."

Takamichi looked up at her again. "Such as?"

The woman looked at him for a good long time, then over at Shizuna, who stood by the desk wearing a glare—she was playing the part of 'bad cop' to Takamichi's 'good cop'—and sat up straighter in her chair. "The Stride family possesses certain...abilities, passed down from generation to generation."

"Abilities?" Shizuna said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes," Alyssa said, glaring at her. "It isn't that unusual, you know." She turned her attention back to Takamichi. "The Stride family possesses an ability that, in most of us, simply results in a little more charisma than the average person. In some of us, however, it manifests in a much stronger form."

"Hypnotism," Takamichi said. He had heard the reports from Asuna and others who had been present during the incident in the girls' dorm building earlier in the day; hypnotism of a particularly powerful type had been his first thought.

"...in a manner of speaking," Alyssa said, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Tell me, have either one of you spent much time around my daughter Kara?" she asked, looking from Takamichi to Shizuna and back.

Takamichi felt quite uncomfortable as he recalled the brief amount of time he had spent teaching that particular class in Negi's place one day the previous month, when Negi had been forced to take a day off to take care of certain duties he had in connection with the local magic association. He could tell by the way Shizuna shifted her stance that she had had a similar experience.

"I see the both of you have," the woman replied. "Not just hypnotism: attraction; both physical and emotional. Tell me, how many children did you want to have?" Alyssa asked, giving Takamichi a piercing stare.

"...a dozen or so," Shizuna said, surprising him as she finally gave up the 'bad cop' role she hadn't been able to really get into yet. "I thought it odd at the time as I have never been attracted to women, let alone a child."

Alyssa nodded. "And you?" she asked, turning her attention to Takamichi.

"...the same," he said reluctantly. He wasn't looking at her, but he could _feel_ Shizuna's sudden glare. Time to deflect attention... "This strikes me as a particularly dangerous ability, especially the way it completely overpowers the victim's preferences."

"Indeed it is and, unfortunately, it works both ways: whatever the victim feels, Kara feels, if to a lesser degree," Alyssa said, nodding to herself. She sat up straight, gave Takamichi another piercing glare of her own, and continued. "It is _highly _dangerous as we have seen today, and it will only become stronger from here on out. There are ways around it of course, but they are not always practical. The effect, like most forms of non vocal hypnotism, is centered around her eyes; the presence of any sort of solid material between her eyes and the victim's weakens the effect...the use of a properly prepared pair of glasses is essential. Unfortunately, my daughter seems to have been neglecting the glasses I prepared for her and opted for a pair of contacts instead. They had _some_ effect I'm sure, but..."

"With an ability like that..." Shizuna said, trailing off as she frowned.

"And not only that," Alyssa replied. "My mother's family also possessed a unique bloodline ability; I am sure the two of you are aware of music-based magic?" Takamichi and Shizuna both nodded. "Indeed; all one needs to confirm its existence is to attend a rock show," Alyssa said, her expression briefly bringing to mind the image of a feral cat before she regained control. "My mother's side of the family possesses the ability to bring out what she always called 'the instrument of her soul'. In my case, an electric guitar, and in my daughter Kara's case, unfortunately, a bass guitar."

"And what would be the difference between them?" Takamichi asked after he had written a few notes reminding him of certain things to look up after the interview was over. "Relating to your family's form of music based magic, of course."

Alyssa paused to gather her thoughts for a moment, then continued on. "Instruments are divided based on their role and the way they are played; the way I play my guitar, for instance, would make it a leading instrument: immediately useful and quite powerful when used the right way, but ultimately unable to accomplish much on its own. Kara's bass, on the other hand, would be a supporting instrument." She paused, waiting for them to make the connection. When they didn't speak, she said it for them. "Every army needs to march, every song needs its rhythm section, Takahata-san, Minamoto-san. The bass is a major part of that; it isn't created to be flashy, it is created to manipulate, to get your blood pumping and shake your bones with its sound, _if_ it's strong enough...and Kara is _strong_. She was able to use it offensively with relative ease, whereas most who utilize this style of magic never develop such an ability. With her ability, especially at her young age, I hate to think of what she may be capable of in the future..._if_ she takes the wrong path."

"Asuna said the sound hit her like a wave," Takamichi said thoughtfully. "I think I am beginning to understand. And does your local magic association know about this?"

Alyssa's stance became defiant. "Yes. There has been more than one attempt on Kara's life, and my local magic association, in their _infinite_ wisdom, suggested locking her away in a hospital and keeping her in a drug-induced coma for the rest of her life."

Takamichi sat there, stunned though he tried not to show it. He shot a quick glance at Shizuna, saw the horrified expression on her face, and looked back at Alyssa. "I see."

And he _did _see. He saw how someone who truly understood the girl's abilities could suggest such a thing, how it could be argued as justified, how someone could do such a thing and retain a clean conscience.

He didn't care.

He paused to collect himself for a long, long moment before looking back up at Alyssa, seated across the desk from him. "Kara Stride..." he said thoughtfully. He hadn't realized just how big a threat she was, but when it came to big threats in the form of little girls, Mahora certainly housed more than its fair share. The Twilight Imperial Princess Kagurazaka Asuna, The Dark Evangel Evangeline A.K. McDowell, the White Oni Kondo Kai, a magic eater, psychics, ghosts, mercenaries, mages of all stripes...Mahora certainly had more than its fair share.

One more wouldn't hurt.

"She may remain in Mahora," he said. "She will be safe; we know how to protect those who need it. And, now that we know the nature of her abilities, we can develop ways to prevent this sort of incident from happening again."

Though she tried to hide it, he could almost _feel_ Alyssa's relief that her daughter would be safe. When she had regained control of herself, she spoke. "You have my thanks."

"It's unnecessary, but you are welcome," he said, writing some more notes on his questionnaire. "Now, what about your other daughter?" he asked, looking at another sheet. "Bethany?"

Alyssa smiled. "Bethany has the same abilities, but they aren't as strong as they are in her sister; a good thing, as she will be able to lead a normal life...or as normal a life as anyone like us will ever lead," she said.

Takamichi nodded in agreement; mages and those who possessed such unusual abilities as Alyssa Stride and her daughters could never lead a _really_ normal life; they simply had to hang in there and do their best to find a balance.

Alyssa smiled, a rare thing from what Takamichi had seen thus far. "Bethany will be fine; she's a strong girl."

* * *

><p><em>Friday, July 10th, 2009, Evening<em>

* * *

><p>"Um...Shiina-san?" Mako Sylvester said hesitantly after the taxi had dropped them off on a dimly lit street corner. "Where are we?"<p>

"Yachiyo, in Ibaraki. Oh, and call me Sakurako. My _dad_'s 'Shiina-san'," Sakurako said happily, peering around to see what she could see in the fading evening light. There wasn't much to see...it was a pretty typical smallish Japanese town surrounded by farmers' fields. There were a few shrines and things, but there was more of that sort of thing back in Mahora. "Come on, I think it's over this way!" she said, bouncing away down the sidewalk.

Mako looked around at the strange town nervously, and hurried after Sakurako. "Where are we going...?" she asked when she had caught up to the energetic woman.

"Hmm...there's a place somewhere around here..." Sakurako said, pausing on another street corner just long enough to make sure she wouldn't get run over before plunging out into the road.

Mako followed along behind, doing her best to keep up. She hadn't known what to expect when Shiina Sakurako had approached her just after school had let out, but she knew the woman in a roundabout way from her training with Gin-san and the others in Eva's resort, so she had agreed to go along with her when Sakurako asked for a favor.

She was beginning to regret that decision.

"Come on, it's this way, I can feel it!" Sakurako said, hurrying along the sidewalk for a moment before darting across the road to a tall brick wall built around what looked like some kind of warehouse at the edge of the town. Mako followed as best she could, narrowly missing getting run over for her troubles. She made it safely to Sakurako's side a moment later, but Sakurako was already moving along the brick wall, looking up at the top of it. She paused after a moment. "Hey, think we can jump?"

Mako just blinked at her. "...huh?"

Sakurako grinned and shook her head. "Yeah, stupid idea. Let's keep going!" She resumed walking, turned the corner, and trotted over to a heavily built metal door built into the wall. "Let's see..." she said, trying the doorknob. When it didn't turn, she pulled out a hairpin and got to work on the lock.

Mako watched, aghast. Had Shiina-san—no, Sakurako-san—taken her along to help commit a crime...? "You probably shouldn't be doing that," she said nervously.

Sakurako glanced up at her, grinned, and shook her head. "Nah, don't worry about it, Mako-chan! It's not a problem at all!" Something in the doorknob clicked as Sakurako spoke, and she stood up, giving Mako a confident grin. "See? Piece of cake." She opened the door and stepped through, holding it open for Mako.

As Mako stepped through the door, she was surprised at how thick the brick wall was: easily six feet across, enough space for a small utility room to be built inside it. Standing in that room, she waited while Sakurako picked the lock on the next door, which opened much more quickly than the previous one.

"Heh~ I'm getting good at this," Sakurako said. "Come on, Mako-chan! Just remember, stay in the shadows and be very, very quiet!" she said, winking back at the younger girl as she slipped out through the doorway. Once outside, she waited for Mako to get out of the way and shut the door as quietly as she could.

Inside the walled-in lot, Mako found herself in what looked to be a half-empty parking lot with a large, well lit building on the other side. To her consternation, a fair amount of the vehicles present seemed to be castoffs from some military organization; most of them appeared heavily built, and a few even had cannons of various sizes sticking out of them. She didn't see any actual tanks, but such a thing would have fit in with the rest perfectly. The sun was long gone by that point, and shadows stretched across the parking lot in spite of the lights set up everywhere.

"This will be fun!" Sakurako whispered to her, then darted off for the closest military vehicle, which she crawled under.

Mako hesitantly followed, wishing Sakurako had at least given her a chance to change out of her school uniform before making her crawl around under jeeps and things...

After a sequence of surreptitious movements like something out of a videogame, Mako found herself standing beside Sakurako at the side of the big building, right next to another locked door. "Maybe we should go back..." she said nervously. She just wanted to be back in her nice, safe dorm room, where she wouldn't have to struggle to keep her ability from activating and flooding her mind with images any time she touched anything. Her dorm room was warm and pleasant and _happy_; besides, her roommate Keiko would be worried about her...she hadn't had a chance to call and tell the other girl she'd be late coming back.

"Nonsense," Sakurako said, smiling as the lock clicked and she opened the door to reveal a clean, well-lit hall. "Now come on and remember to be quiet, okay?" she said, leading the way without even bothering to look back and see if Mako had followed her.

"Okay..." Mako said reluctantly as she stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

Sakurako went up the hall to where it ran into another hall and ended, and peeked around the corner before motioning Mako to come up.

"Is it-"

"Shhh." Sakurako put a finger up to her lips as she made the shushing noise. She abruptly took Mako's hand in her own.

"No...!" Mako said, trying to tug her hand away to avoid the inevitable onrush of emotions and occasional memories that always came when she touched another.

Nothing happened.

_Nothing happened_.

Mako blinked in confusion. It was extremely rare that nothing happened when she made contact with someone like that; the other party, every time her ability had failed to kick in, had always been extremely withdrawn, unwilling to show any weakness. From what she had seen, Sakurako was nothing like that, and yet... She blinked down at the woman. "I...how?"

Sakurako winked at her. "You can call it divine intervention, ne~?" she said cutely, then led the way around the corner and along the next hall. "We're looking for a room where they would take things to be studied," she said, then guided Mako's hand to the wall.

The sudden influx of information staggered Mako and almost dropped her to her knees; the only thing preventing it was Sakurako, who supported Mako with an arm around her waist.

"Hmm..." Sakurako said. "Do you see anything?"

"...huh?" Mako said, still a little overwhelmed as she stared off into space. Now that the flood of information had slowed enough to become somewhat manageable, she could actually make out what some of it meant.

"There are six cars, they were in a lake. Do you see anything?" Sakurako asked, her voice almost hypnotically gentle.

Mako squinted, trying to sort out the mess of information. "They...they were in a garage, they _are_ in a garage, and two of them are up on that thing they use to lift up cars," Mako said.

"A car lift?" Sakurako offered. Mako nodded. "That's good. Are there any people in there?"

"No..." Mako said, then looked off in another direction. "Someone is coming..."

"Oh, well then, we can't have them bothering us, can we?" Sakurako said playfully as she took Mako's hand from the wall.

Mako snapped back to herself and staggered. Sakurako moved to support her, but Mako waved her off. "What did you do to me? What did you _do_?" she demanded, half afraid of the answer. Sakurako had done _something_ to increase the strength of her clairsentience to turn it into something terrifyingly invasive. For just a moment, her ability had gone far beyond merely feeling emotions; she had been able to see _everything, _from the fact that one of the mages working in this building was contemplating cheating on his wife to the fact that the strongest mage in the place was the janitor_._ It had been exhilarating...and terrifying. "What did you do?!" she demanded again.

Sakurako smiled at her, a little more gently. "I just supercharged you, that's all. It's not good to do it often, so I won't do it again unless I have your permission, okay?"

Mako looked at her suspiciously. Could she trust Sakurako...? She felt strangely inclined to, but while she hadn't really known her before this, now she felt she had a reason to distrust her.

"Come along, this way," Sakurako said, hurrying down the hall, leading Mako by the hand. She darted down another hall apparently at random, opened a door to a locker room of some sort, hurried across the floor, and opened one of several doors on the opposite side, leading to a large garage, where six waterlogged cars sat in the process of a thorough search. There was no one in the room, so Sakurako hurried to the nearest car, a four door sedan from the early 80s that had to have seen better days even before being submerged in a lake. "Okay Mako-chan, tell me what you feel," she said, pressing Mako's hand to the side of the car.

Mako stiffened, expecting the same flood of information as before, but all she felt was...exhaustion. "It's tired..." she said, confused. She hadn't ever felt an object with its own emotions before...was this something new she could do...?

"Yes, this guy's tired. He's had a long hard life, and he's ready to sit in a salvage yard," Sakurako said a little sadly, hurrying Mako on to the next car. It was a newer model, something from the mid 90s, Mako thought, a big sedan that resented its treatment. Sakurako hurried her on to the next, and the next, until the only cars left to check were the two currently sitting high atop car lifts. Mako went to the nearest one and reached up to lay her hand on a tire, just about the only thing within easy reach. Her mind was immediately flooded by a fairly simple tune.

"It's...it's singing," Mako said in surprise.

"Really?" Sakurako asked. "What's the song like?"

"Um...something like this," Mako said, doing her best to hum the tune. Sakurako stopped her after a few seconds.

"This is the one we're looking for," Sakurako said, smiling wide as she stepped back to look up at the car, a remarkably generic four door sedan from the 80s.

"What's that song...?" Mako asked.

Sakurako grinned wider than before. "It's called 'Drift Away', and it's Ako's favorite song. Some guy from America made it. Now come on," Sakurako said, again taking Mako's hand. "We need to find out everything we can about the people who took Ako. Want to try another supercharge?"

Mako looked up at the car and hesitantly nodded.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Yeah...that was a little odd/intentionally cheesy. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that, but I was probably on cold medicine at the time._


	22. Ch 19 Darkness: Sayo

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 19: Darkness: Sayo**

* * *

><p><em>Saturday, July 11th, 2009, Late Night<em>

* * *

><p>Sayo floated through the hallway on the floor of the dorm where most of the second year students had their rooms, occasionally poking her head through a door to check on the girls sleeping inside if she heard anything suspicious. She knew they wouldn't appreciate it if they knew she was there, but...it was a perk of being a ghost! Seeing who might spot her while half asleep—a state that seemed particularly prone to enhancing one's ability to see ghosts, she had discovered—and listening to the resulting ghost stories was always entertaining, she thought quite deviously. '<em>A little mischievousness is the hallmark of a good ghost,' <em>she thought to herself, and nodded playfully. In such spirits, she went into the room occupied by two of her current classmates, Sophie Rivers and Takahashi Shizuko, and poked around until she came up with Shizuko's pencil case. She opened it up, giggled as she rearranged the pencils and pens inside, and put it back where she had found it.

"Hehehe~"

She could just imagine the dumbfounded look on the girl's face when she opened up her pencil case at school and found everything different...! "Hehe~" Sophie mumbled something in her sleep, and Sayo cut off her laughter and concentrated on avoiding squeaky floorboards as she floated out through the door. She floated on down the hall, thinking about whose shoes she should put upside down or backwards, when a sudden chill ran down her spine.

Sayo froze. "U-um...if, um, i-if somebody scary's there, um...p-please go away. I-I'm a scary g-ghost, you know...I'll c-curse you!" She hesitantly turned around to see what was behind her, but as she moved her head, she froze again and faced toward the northeast.

"What...?" she said aloud, the inexplicable sense of doom she was felt completely drowned out her previous feelings of mischievousness. Something bad was coming; she could feel it down in her bones. '_If I had any,'_ she thought in the back of her mind as she stared off into the distance toward the northeast. All the new ghosts in the city...had they been running from this, this...whatever was making her feel like this? She knew she needed to go and investigate, but she felt oddly reticent about going anywhere but away from that feeling. She shivered. She knew she was being ridiculous; she knew ghosts didn't have skin or internal temperatures or even glands or other things like that, but she shivered anyway.

In the dorm building full of sleeping girls, Sayo suddenly felt very, very alone.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday, July 12th, Mid Day<em>

* * *

><p>Kazumi looked up from her lunch in Natsumi's Diner in confusion at the ghosts moving quite quickly along the road outside, heading in the general direction of the world tree. "What the..."<p>

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" Natsumi asked from her seat on the other side of the table where she was eating her own lunch on her break.

Kazumi shook her head. "Nah, the, ah..." she looked around to make sure she wouldn't be overheard. "The ghosts are moving around again, and something...um..."

"What is it?" Natsumi asked.

Kazumi frowned in confusion. "I...don't know. Something just seems _strange_, over..." Kazumi paused a moment, cocking her head like a bird before pointing off to the northeast. "Something's strange over _there_. I don't know what it is, but I've never felt anything like it...it's like there's nothing there. At all."

Natsumi frowned curiously at Kazumi's confusing remarks and the two fell into a thoughtful silence as they continued to eat lunch. "The ghosts have been doing that a lot lately...are they going somewhere in particular?" she said.

Kazumi nodded in response. "I think so, but I don't know. I can't get them to tell me much of anything, and Sayo tells me the same thing...the ghosts are scared."

"What about Reiko? Do you think she's heard anything?" Natsumi asked, and took a bite of her ramen.

"Heh, well, you know Reiko," Kazumi said, shrugging helplessly.

Natsumi sighed; she did indeed know Reiko, and how Reiko and Kazumi had never got along. The only reason the two mediums ever even spoke to each other was because Sayo liked them both and dragged them together any chance she got; after all, if she was friends with both of them, why couldn't they be friends with each other as well? Or so Kazumi had told her when Natsumi asked about it some time back. There was also the fact that Reiko tended to keep to herself until she got into something way over her head. Natsumi rolled her eyes as she recalled similar tendencies in several of her other friends, and one particular black haired dog-boy.

"I haven't heard anything from her, but..." Kazumi paused, looking off in the direction from which the ghosts had been fleeing. "I can't help but feel like something's just _wrong_ over there..."

* * *

><p>Shortly after starting her daily patrol of the ghost hotspots of Mahora, Sayo spotted a ghost she recognized, one that been hanging around Mahora for the past year or so, as he tried to flee and called out to him. The ghost paused, looked back at her, looked in the direction he had been headed, and seemed to slump as he turned back and slowly floated over to Sayo.<p>

"Hello, Miss Sayo," he said.

"Hello, Donovan," Sayo said pleasantly. "Why are you running away like that? It can make the other ghosts panic, you know?" she said, pouting cutely. She had found that, for some reason, older male ghosts tended to get all mushy when she did that, but Donovan in particular seemed susceptible to it. Kazumi had told her she was ridiculously cute when she did it, when Sayo asked her about it.

The male ghost looked away sheepishly. "Well...it's _that_, you know?" he said, pointing off toward the northeast. "I've been running from it for a long time now. I thought I had finally escaped from it when I got here, but..."

Sayo smiled pleasantly, waiting for him to continue. This was the most any of the fleeing ghosts had admitted about what they were doing; most of them simply seemed ashamed or terrified. "But?" she asked.

The ghost heaved a sigh in spite of not having any lungs and reluctantly continued. "That thing...I was in San Francisco when I first felt it. I'm not weak, you know? I've been around for a hundred years or so and I was a medium back when I was alive, so I've got quite a bit of power." He said this without any sign of gloating or showing off in the least, and Sayo agreed. As far as ghosts went, he was indeed strong; not nearly on her level, but stronger than most.

"What happened?" Sayo asked.

Donovan the ghost snorted. "Some psycho summoned _that_," he said, pointing off toward the northeast again. "It, well...it eats ghosts. I-I...I saw it," he said, shivering at the memory. "It..." He paused, looking around, then hesitantly continued. "There was this real strong little girl that used to haunt this big old house in one of the half decent neighborhoods, in the direction the _thing_ was in. Anyway, I thought I was pretty badass at the time, so I went over there to see if we could team up, you know, take it down. Well..." Donovan trailed off, his face pale even for a ghost. "When...when I got there, I heard screaming. It was her. I guess the _thing_ realized I was there; it came out through the wall and came toward me, and this long tentacle thing was...it was sucking her up like a straw."

Sayo's grin was suddenly strained. "S...sucking...?"

"Yeah," Donovan said. "Like a straw. It..." he shuddered again and looked ready to bolt, but Sayo forced herself to smile encouragingly at him. "It sucked her up."

Sayo's smile felt sickly, even to her. "W-what does it look like?" she forced herself to ask before Donovan could flee.

"Well...it's like this big blackish-purple cloud that floats along the ground; it doesn't really have much of a shape, but it's got these tentacle-tube things it shoots out, and if the end of one touches you, it starts sucking you up." He looked away, clearly not wanting to continue on.

"And...?" Sayo prompted.

"W-well...the ghosts it sucks up turn into these little blue lights in the middle of it. They don't last long at all..." he said, trailing off as he looked away again.

Sayo shivered; this was really scary stuff, _way_ worse than what she had imagined! She hadn't even known such a thing could exist...

Donovan started to float away, but paused and looked back. "Sayo-chan? Come on, why don't we run away together? I don't want to see you get sucked up by that thing..." he shuddered again.

Sayo swallowed the lump in her throat and hesitantly shook her head. "No...I...I can't," she reluctantly said. Now that she understood _why_ her natural response to the 'thing' was to run away, it suddenly became a lot harder not to run; but she couldn't. The ghosts of Mahora depended on her; and besides, Kazumi and Reiko were here. If anybody could get rid of such a monster, it would be those two.

"Go ahead and escape, this place will be really dangerous before long," she finally said. "I'll be okay; I have strong friends. We'll get rid of this monster, don't worry!" she said with more energy than she felt. Donovan looked torn, but fled anyway when the oppressive feeling of the ghost eating _thing_'s power suddenly increased.

Sayo watched him go, wishing she could escape as well, but she had a responsibility to this place, to the ghosts who were tied to the land and couldn't escape at all, to her friends, to Kazumi and Reiko. She looked off to the northeast, though she couldn't see anything past the building that was directly in front of her. Now that she knew what it was, she could _feel_ it, the ghost eating monster. Her lips thinned out in a tight frown. Mahora had dozens of ghosts, mostly asleep or so weak their presence was nearly undetectable by any but the most skilled mediums, but that didn't make them any less people. She couldn't just run away and save herself, the ghosts of Mahora depended on her; they had for years. Someone had to protect them...

"I'll keep them safe," she said aloud, sounding much more confident than she felt.

* * *

><p>Two of the three members of the Fortune Telling Club, Regular Member Ono Ran and Club Leader Kotobuki Minami walked along the sidewalk side by side, each carrying a bag full of paper and several rolls of heavy duty duct tape.<p>

"Put one of these here," Ran said as she ducked into an alley, followed by Minami.

"'Kay. One power directing symbol, coming up~" Minami said in a singsong voice as she held up a piece of paper on the wall of the alley and glanced back at Ran for her opinion. Ran nodded, and Minami taped the paper up. "Seruhiko-sensei came by the club room looking for you yesterday," Minami said as the two of them moved back out to the sidewalk.

"Mm," Ran said noncommittally. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No," Minami said, looking at Ran out of the corner of her eye. "He just said to let him know if you came by the club room." They walked along in silence for a moment.

"So what's this supposed to do, anyway?" Minami asked after the duo had walked along in silence for a long moment.

Ran looked down at the sidewalk as she debated what exactly to tell the president of the Fortune Telling Club. Kotobuki Minami and Mari Nichols were among the rare few she considered to be good friends; she didn't want to say too much and end up introducing them to a world that would put them in danger...or more danger than they were in just by living in Mahora, anyway. "It's..." She hesitated.

_**'That's rare**_,' the other person inside her head said. The woman Ran knew as Kuroi Yuina was a mystery...or should have been. Thanks to Ran's mind reading abilities, she knew Kuroi as well as she knew herself; the woman was a previous personality that had somehow remained attached to her soul, to put it simply if inaccurately. Kuroi was her own person, just as much as Ran or anyone else was; the difference lay in the fact that Kuroi had died centuries upon centuries ago, while Ran was still alive. Kuroi Yuina was Ran's friend and adviser, trainer and confidant, and she knew Ran as well as she knew herself. The two of them got along surprisingly well, all told. '_**You always seem to know exactly what you want to do next.**_'

'_Be quiet,_' Ran thought at the woman. _'I don't want to get her involved, but I don't want to lie to her; she's an important friend.'_

'_**That's a sacrifice you have to make sometimes,**_**'** Kuroi replied solemnly. '_**She's your best friend; step carefully, Ran.'**_

Ran looked at Minami as the girl paused to shift her burden to a more comfortable position. "Is it too heavy?" Ran asked.

Minami shrugged as best as she could, considering the heavy bag she carried. "About as heavy as a thousand sheets of heavy paper and a dozen rolls of duct tape," she said, smirking at her. "How about you?" While Minami was a healthy girl and was actually quite active and athletic, Ran was not; when one took the time to look past the standoffish personality and oppressive, gloomy atmosphere around the girl, she was actually surprisingly frail. Much to Ran's chagrin, Minami had apparently decided to appoint herself as Ran's very own health and diet adviser, and did all she could to make sure Ran had plenty of the right things to eat as often as possible. It could get incredibly annoying.

"I'm fine," Ran said, looking away. She didn't want to admit that she found the bag she herself carried to be excessively heavy; even though it contained less than Minami's bag. "It's magic," she said, as if it was an afterthought.

Minami walked along beside her for a moment in silence. "Well that's kinda obvious. Magic circles and all," she added when Ran looked at her in surprise. "But is it _real_ magic? Will it work? It's not something like the books on magic you can find in the bookstore, is it?"

They turned off into another alley, where they taped up several pieces of paper with different things printed on them. "It will work," Ran said.

'_**Are you going to tell her about what you're REALLY doing?**_' Kuroi asked.

'_No, that would just make her worry or try to stop me,_' Ran said.

Minami grunted at Ran's response to her question and took up her bag again. Out on the sidewalk again, she spoke. "Should be neat. I don't know what you want to do with all this, but it looks like you're trying to direct power either that way," she said, pointing off toward the southwest, "or that way," she said, looking to the northeast. "Right?"

Ran focused on trying to not be nervous about how perceptive Minami was.

_**'You could always force her stop asking questions,**_' Kuroi said.

Ran made the mental equivalent of a glare at the woman. '_No! I will NOT do such a thing!_'

'_**Good girl**_', Kuroi replied, radiating amusement and praise. **_'That's a slippery slope; if you manipulate your friends, you won't have anyone left in the end._**'

"You just have to trust me," Ran said quietly.

Minami glanced at her, cocked an eyebrow at her comment, and shrugged. "Sure. I don't think you'd try to do anything bad, I'm just worried about _you_. I hope you know what you're doing..."

Ran nodded thoughtfully. "So do I."

* * *

><p>"I-I can't run away," Sayo said aloud as she wandered around the city on her daily patrol. Donovan had only been the first of many terrified ghosts trying to leave; from what she had learned from talking to others, he was the only one who knew what the ghost eating monster actually looked like.<p>

"I have to see what it is, I-I have to f-fight it if I can..." She tried to swallow the sudden lump in her throat, wondering where Kazumi was. She wished she could use one of the 'cell phones' that her living friends always carried around; it would be easy to find Kazumi or Reiko whenever she wanted if she could use one of those...

The wispy material that made up the area where her legs would have been were she still alive whipped back and forth at a sudden scream in the distance followed immediately by a startled shout. The scream had been a ghost, the shout a human.

Sayo flew off at top speed toward the source of the noise, and it didn't take long to find.

Sayo came around the corner of a building just in time to see rampaging spirit, driven mad by the presence of the ghost eating monster, flailing around and striking at anything it saw; two ghosts who had been in Mahora as long as Sayo could remember were busy keeping it occupied.

"Sayo-chan!" Kazumi called out.

Sayo quickly went over to where the girl sat, propped up against the side of a building. "Kazumi! Are you okay? What happened?" she said as she fussed over her, looking for wounds.

"I'm fine," Kazumi said, her teeth chattering as she kept her arms wrapped tightly around herself. "I just got careless, that's all. That," she said, indicating the rampaging spirit, "tried to possess me when I wasn't expecting it; it tried to take over, but I didn't let it. Then it hit me," she said, shivering the whole time. "I've still got chills. Think you can take care of it?"

Sayo nodded. "I can! I'll avenge you, Kazumiiiii!" she said, rushing off toward the spirit.

"...I'm not dead yet," Kazumi said.

Sayo sized up the opposition as she approached. This particular spirit resembled an octopus more than anything else, if only an octopus as big as a bus that floated along above the ground. She wasn't particularly impressed. Octopus spirits were a dime a dozen, it seemed; she wondered briefly why spirits all seemed to have tentacles, but brushed it off as unimportant as she rocketed in and flicked the octopus in the middle of its head.

"Bad octopus! Bad!" she said, wagging her finger as she pouted at it. "You know better than that! Put down Sally and Himiko right this instant!"

The octopus spirit reared up, lifting the two squirming female ghosts in its tentacles, but Sayo stood her ground.

"Octopu~s," she said, dragging out the last syllable in a way known to every child of a strict mother. "Put them down! Now!"

The octopus spirit, more than a match for just about any local ghost in its current state, hesitated.

"Octopus, are you listening to me?" Sayo said, wagging her finger at it again, increasing the power of her pout as she did. "Put them down _now._"

The giant floating octopus spirit somehow managed to look slightly ashamed of itself, not unlike a dog that's just been caught chewing up a shoe or making a mess on the carpet. It reluctantly lowered the two female ghosts to the ground, hesitated, and released them.

"Good octopus," Sayo said, putting her hands on her hips and nodding. "Now, you aren't going to rampage around anymore, are you?" she asked, wagging her finger at it again. It looked away, but began releasing the power it had built up and slowly shrank back to its natural size, close to that of a cat. When it was done, it looked up at her hopefully, and Sayo beamed at it. "Good little octopus!" she said, kneeling down so she could rub its head. "Now go and be a good boy, and don't go grabbing ghosts anymore, okay? Off you go," she said, giving it a little push to send it on its way.

When the octopus spirit was gone, Sayo turned to see Kazumi had climbed to her feet, though she needed to lean against the side of the building for support. "Kazumi! You need to sit down! Here—"

"No, it's okay," Kazumi said, waving her off. Reluctantly, Sayo let her stand there. "Thanks Sayo-chan, you saved those two," she said, nodding toward Sally and Himiko, both of whom were blushing furiously as they tried to recreate their clothes, which the octopus spirit had, for some unknown reason, promptly torn off as soon as it caught them. Sayo sighed and shook her head. In Sayo's experience, that was one of the first things octopus spirits did when they went on a rampage: catch a girl ghost, and rip off their clothes. Weird things, octopus spirits...

"Ero-spirit," Sayo said, shaking her head sadly. "He's a good boy, he means well, but he's a weirdo."

Kazumi just gaped at her, the disturbing presence in the northeast forgotten if but for the moment, and cracked up laughing.

* * *

><p>"Heya Negi, I'm back again," Asuna said as she strolled into his hospital room, slung the small pack she carried off her back and into a chair, propped her sword up in the corner, and finally plopped down in a chair herself. She took a deep breath, held it, and let it out, temporarily forgetting the stress of the day. In addition to Ako's kidnapping at the festival, Negi's class seemed to be in the process of imploding, what with the student Ono Ran somehow putting Negi into this state and then running off somewhere, not to mention Kobayashi Ayumi and the way she'd been skipping school off and on for the past two weeks. But, Asuna thought, at least the long-missing Possum Cade had been found and even resumed attending school; there was just the little problem that she was now some kind of vampire.<p>

Asuna heaved another sigh. The fact that Possum had turned into a vampire seemed to bother Possum more than anyone else who knew; sure, Taro was upset, but... "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to get your class roster for the substitute," Asuna said, reminding herself to not mention the name of the substitute teacher, or the fact that he was the very same vampire who had so recently attacked the city and kidnapped Possum. Vampire or not, he had had to work with a handwritten list of names provided by the class rep, and she had been understandably reticent about dealing with him; she wasn't the only one, either.

Asuna looked around for Negi's briefcase, a fashionable black leather affair she had bought for him several years ago to replace the one she had accidentally ruined, finally finding it in the nightstand next to the bed. She set it up on the foot of Negi's bed, popped the straps holding it shut, and opened it. The interior was a jumble of textbooks, notes, and whatever else Negi had jammed in there in the weeks before the incident that had left him in the hospital, but she quickly found the class roster between an English textbook and a folder full of ungraded tests.

"Man, Negi! This thing's a mess!" Asuna said, holding the briefcase open wide so she could pull out the roster. As she did so, something else caught her eye: a deck of cards wrapped around with a couple of rubber bands. She pulled out the class roster and set it aside, then focused on digging out the deck of cards.

"Wow, won'tcha look at this," she said as she held the cards up. Now that they weren't buried under notebooks and scrap paper, she could see they were pactio cards. "Hey Negi, you don't mind if I look at these for a minute, do you?" she asked. When she got no response, she quickly removed the rubber bands and started scanning through the deck. "Ha, I remember that," she said, grinning when she spotted Kazumi's pactio card. The incident that had led to its creation was the result of a long series of accidents and coincidences that ultimately resulted in Negi being struck in the back of the head with a half-baked pot from the pottery club while teaching Kazumi about the intricate details of magic circles. Naturally—for Negi, anyway—he had fallen nearly unconscious on Kazumi, the two of them had landed on the circle in exactly the right position for their lips to touch, and, miracle of miracles, the pactio circle had activated. When Negi woke up later that day, he had gained another pactio partner.

Asuna continued looking through the deck for a long minute, grinning as she recalled the absurdities that had led to the creation of most of these cards. There were several cards from girls she didn't recognize, but for the most part his pactio partners seemed to be former students. It wasn't until she was nearing the back of the deck that she paused on a card belonging to yet another unknown girl. This one, however, was different from the rest of the cards in one very important way.

It was a dead card.

Whoever the pretty, dark haired foreign girl in the harem outfit on the card was, she had died, stripping the card of its magic and leeching much of its color. Asuna couldn't recall ever seeing the girl on the card or hearing Negi speak of her. The only information on the card was a name: Rikki Suvari. The only Rikki Asuna knew of was some girl connected to her friend Max Linell, a former agent from the American Division who had come to Japan six years ago during Negi's first year of teaching. He had never said much about her, but Asuna got the impression something bad had happened to her. She took the card from the deck and held it up to the spare light from the desk lamp to get a better look, frowning. If this _was_ the card from that Rikki girl Max refused to talk much about, what was Negi doing with it? She put the rest of the deck aside and sat down in a chair as she inspected the card.

"Huh..." Asuna said aloud.

"It's almost here."

Asuna nearly jumped out of her seat at the sound of a strange girl's voice. A quick glance around the room showed it to be empty of anyone but Negi and herself, and she knew she hadn't spoken, so... Asuna moved to stand beside Negi's bed.

"Hey, did you say something?" she asked.

Sure enough, Negi's spoke, though it wasn't his voice. "It's almost here...I don't like it. I don't want it..."

"O...kay then," Asuna said to herself. She wished Eva was there; Eva always knew what to do when people started speaking in tongues or whatever. Or maybe Nodoka... "Yeah, I think Nodoka's the right one for this," Asuna said aloud as she pulled out her cell phone.

"It's coming," Negi said in that same girly sounding voice from before.

"Okay, I believe you," Asuna said as she typed Nodoka's number, a decidedly quicker method than trying to wade through the maze of folders in her enormous contact list.

"It's coming..." Negi said again, the girl's voice sounding troubled. Negi's head turned to the side, and he stopped speaking.

—_Hello?_—

Asuna let out a sigh of relief. "Hey Nodoka, it's me. I need you to get over here right away; something weird's come up, and..." Asuna trailed off as she looked back at Negi, who had started twitching. "Um...I think you'd better hurry. I'm with Negi."

—_I understand; I'll be there right away. Should I bring Yue?_—

"Yeah, if you can find her. She might be able to find something out in her book," Asuna said, referring to Yue's pactio artifact, which had grown to be a veritable encyclopedia over the past six years. The others had come to depend on Yue to be able to find out just about anything, just as they depended on Ayaka to pull strings and get everyone organized and Nodoka to _keep _them organized with the vast pactio networks she could set up. "But didn't she say something about going to Tokyo this weekend...?"

"It's too close; it's almost here...!" Negi said loudly, turning his head back and forth, as if in the throes of a nightmare.

—_What was that?_— Nodoka asked. —_Is someone else there?_—

"Yeah, Just me and Negi and some crazy girl," Asuna said into her cell phone as she nervously eyed the fallen teacher on his hospital bed. "You'd better hurry."

—_Okay, see you in a few minutes_— Nodoka said, then hung up her phone.

Asuna looked down at her cell phone for a moment, wondering who else she should call. If Negi was possessed by the dead girl on the card as she was beginning to suspect, he'd need an exorcist, and the best one around was Reiko. But Kazumi was far better at peacefully dealing with dead people; she was the one who had befriended Sayo-chan, after all. But then again, if the dead girl was dangerous...

"It's almost here!" Negi screamed.

Asuna dialed quickly.

* * *

><p>'<em>It's almost here!<em>' Sayo thought in sudden horror as she looked off toward the Northeast. That horrible ghost eating monster Donovan had told her about was nearing the outskirts of the city. Now, at last, she understood why so many ghosts had been flooding into the city recently; she had thought she understood before, but now everything in her screamed at her to drop everything and run, or rather float, away as fast as possible, in the opposite direction from which the _thing_ was approaching. She felt a little better now that she was with Kazumi, but...

The sensation was so strong now that she knew she was now one of the few ghosts that hadn't run away from the city or begun swarming around the world tree. She bit her lip as she looked back at the top of the world tree and the myriad of tiny shapes moving among its branches, just visible past the rooftops in the area she was in. She could sort of understand the swarming ghosts' behavior: something about the giant tree just _screamed_ safety, and she _really_ wanted to go there. But she had a reputation to uphold, and friends to protect.

"Hey, Sayo-chan? Hang in there," Kazumi said seriously as she looked toward the northeast. She started to speak when her cell phone rang; she quickly answered it. "Hello?"

—_Kazumi? Yeah, this is Asuna. I'm with Negi right now, and something weird is going on; I think I need a medium here. How fast can you get over here?—_

Kazumi shook her head, even though Asuna couldn't see her. "Sorry, I can't do it; I'm investigating this, this _thing_," she said, unable to come up with a proper description. "You know, the one that has all the ghosts scared. Sayo-chan's with me," she said, looking at Sayo. Sayo gave her a sickly smile as she listened.

—_Oh...I didn't know. I think this is related to that, but I need someone here now. I'll call Reiko, but come as soon as you get a chance, okay?—_

"Yeah, sure thing," Kazumi said, and hung up, grimacing. "Something's going on with Negi," she said by way of explanation to Sayo.

Sayo nodded. The problem with things of that nature, she knew, was that when one was too close to the victim, their perception was distorted. Even a powerful medium like Kazumi or Reiko could easily overlook any number of supernatural problems just because their closeness to Negi blinded them to it; she knew even she herself as a ghost wasn't immune. She put it out of her mind for the moment, and took Kazumi's hand. "I'm worried, Kazumi..."

Kazumi listened in growing disquiet as Sayo related the story the ghost Donovan had told her about the ghost eating monster. "That's horrible...!"

Sayo nodded sadly. "We have to stop it..."

* * *

><p>Ono Ran's head snapped up as the wards she had set up days ago at the edge of the city activated.<p>

"It's here."

The Fortune Telling Club President Kotobuki Minami cocked an eyebrow as she looked at her friend. "What are you talking about? What's here?"

Ran shook her head. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. The less Minami knew about what she was doing, the better; especially if her efforts failed, because if it did, it would fail spectacularly. "It doesn't matter. Please go find Mari and go to a safe—"

"What do you _mean_ it doesn't matter?!" Minami demanded, poking her in the chest. "You're posting magic symbols all over town, and you've had me and Mari making more for a week! We're too deep in this for it to not matter already! Tell me, Ran-chan. What's going on? Me and Mari are your friends! Even..." Minami paused, seemed to gather her nerve, and forged ahead. "Even if it's something bad, we're friends, right?" she said, tears starting to well up in spite of her fierce expression.

Ran stared at the other girl, shocked to the core by her outburst, though she did her best to hide it. "You..." She paused as Minami angrily wiped away a few tears. Ran had never really had any friends before; not real ones, anyway...and Minami and Mari _had_ been helping her with this project after that day they found her trying to use that copy machine. But...if they became more involved than they already were, they would likely soon be just as much outcasts as she was herself, especially if her plan failed. "It's..." She paused, tried to look away, but Minami just glared. "...it's complicated," Ran said, looking away again.

"Ran-chan—!"

Ran closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. "You're right," she said, looking at Minami. "You're right; I'll tell you all about it, but it will have to be later. Right now, I have something I have to do. Just...trust me. Please?"

Minami stood there for a long minute, watching her, completely unaware of the fact that Ran's wards were blaring in her head. "You're not going to pretend this never happened, right?" she finally asked. "After this is over, you're going to tell us everything, right? About what you've been doing?"

Ran hesitated at that; after all, _everything..._? Then again... She looked Minami in the eye and nodded.

Minami locked eyes with her for a long moment, and finally nodded in return. "Okay. I'll go and find Mari. But...where should we go? I don't even know what we're hiding _from_; how am I supposed to find a safe place?"

Ran let the ghost of a smile cross her lips. "Go to Library Island; it's the safest place in the city," she said, trying to radiate confidence. She didn't think it fooled Minami, but the other girl showed her acceptance of the suggestion with a nod.

"You'd better not forget, Ran-chan," Minami said. "And be careful!" she said as she turned to go. "If you get hurt, I'll kill you!"

Ran watched her go for a long moment until the second line of wards activated.

_**'You'd better hurry; there isn't much time left,'**_ Kuroi said in her head. **_'I hate to admit it, but it's even starting to make _me_ nervous.'_**

'_I know,_' Ran thought back at the woman. '_I'm activating it now._'

* * *

><p>Student Number Eleven, Sophie Rivers, jerked upright on her bed in her dorm room so fast her head almost hit the bottom of the top bunk, the magazine she had been reading already forgotten.<p>

"...something wrong?" her roommate, Takahashi Shizuko, asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sophie shook her head to clear it as much in answer to Shizuko's question, an automatic lie of the sort she had always told when asked that particular question. This sensation, coming from the northeast...now that she felt it, she wondered how she had managed to miss it for so long. She scratched at the scar on her cheek as she considered what to do. She hadn't ever felt anything like it before; it was just a sort of _oily_ feeling in the corner of her mind...sort of like a ghost, but pretty much completely different. She became aware that Shizuko was still looking at her, and her cheeks went red in embarrassment, making the scar stand out even more than it usually did.

"I-I need to take care of something," Sophie said as she got down on her knees and rooted around under her bed not for her schoolbag, but her _other_ bag, the one containing her stakes, string, powders, and the other items she used in her spiritual magic. She pulled it out and chanced a quick peek inside to make sure everything she might need was there; Shizuko didn't know about her secret activities out in the woods.

"Take care," Shizuko said idly as she looked back down at the book she was reading. "Don't stay out too late," she added after a moment.

Sophie paused at the door, glanced back at her, her cheeks going red again at the idea that someone cared enough for her to worry about her well-being, and nodded. "Thanks."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author Notes<strong>: Northeast – In feng shui, the northeast is a very inauspicious direction; so much so, that it's called something that translates to "demon gate", where demons gather. So, seeing as how the Ghost Eater is a ghost's worst nightmare, I figured I might as well use a little of the local mythology to enhance the imagery. Or something. Too bad all of two people probably understood the link : p I've referenced it before, but I don't know if anyone caught it._


	23. Ch 20 Darkness: Ran

_Sunday, July 12th, Early Afternoon_

* * *

><p>Utagawa Sayuri used to live in a small farming village north of the small town of Mahora. Sayuri belonged to what had once been a fairly well to do samurai family of small repute; while they had fallen on hard times in recent years, they never went without the traditional necessities honor required a samurai family to possess in the 1830s except for one thing: a son.<p>

Sayuri, as the only child, tried to take the place of her parents' nonexistent son. She learned the sword, the rifle, horsemanship, and every other skill she could, but she was best by far with the rifle, and, disguising her sex, even participated in several small battles and peasant rebellions until an unfortunate wound from an enemy rifle blinded her in one eye, leaving her horribly scarred and effectively ruining her for anything but a political marriage to some neglectful merchant or other unpleasant person who wanted a little samurai blood in his family.

Sayuri stabbed her first husband on their wedding night.

Having turned herself in, she was given a choice: go through a trial, bringing great dishonor to her family...or commit seppuku.

Sayuri's ghost haunted her family's land through the arrival of Commodore Perry's Black Ships, through the Meiji Restoration when Mahora began to grow in earnest, through the turn of the century and the time when the city of Mahora finally swallowed up her tiny farming village, through Japan's expansion in the pacific during World War I and the strange years following, through the war with China and World War Two, when her old home was finally destroyed by bombers. She watched in amazement as Japan's economy exploded and it became a true world power, and she became friends with another, quite younger ghost: Aisaka Sayo. Chained by her honor and regrets to her family's old home in spite of the fact that the ground that home had once occupied was now the site of an office building, Sayo was the only one to give her regular visits; the living workers came and went through the years, but Sayo was, like Sayuri, everlasting, if chained to the entire city rather than a small patch of ground.

It was from this small patch of ground in July of 2009 that Sayuri watched an abomination approach.

It was an inky black shifting shape forty feet high and hidden in a dark fog as it moved along the ground at a snail's pace, it's mere existence so unnatural as to repel the living from its path even though they couldn't see it, so utterly horrifying that Sayuri wanted to run away with all her heart and soul.

Her honor wouldn't let her flee, even if she hadn't been bound to the land.

Her friend Sayo lived in Mahora and was usually at one of the schools, directly in this... this _thing_'s path.

For the first time in nearly two centuries, Sayuri donned her armor, put on her sword, and took up her rifle. She knew she could do little to harm it; all she could do was delay it a little and hope for the best. If that didn't work, well...she had died once before; she didn't think she'd mind doing it a second time.

Sayuri went out to face the abomination; it sensed her presence and focused its attention on her.

It was all Sayuri could do for a moment to stand her ground under that unspeakable predator's gaze, but the memory of her friend and the danger she was likely in from the monstrosity steeled her nerve. She raised her rifle to her shoulder, sighted in on what she assumed to be its head, and fired.

The bullet, made of her own ghostly essence, blasted a four foot chunk out of what had been a moment before the thing's head, and it reared back, letting out a burst of furious pressure.

Sayuri never got a second shot.

An inky black tentacle shot out at her. Sayuri leaped aside, but the end of the tentacle followed, and touched her hand; Utagawa Sayuri, samurai ghost of a hundred and seventy years, was devoured in seconds, leaving nothing behind.

Moments later, the ghost eating monster continued inexorably on its path.

* * *

><p>"No...no...!" Negi muttered in a girl's voice as he thrashed in his hospital bed.<p>

"Negi! Calm down! _Negi!_" Asuna shouted as she rushed to keep him from hurting himself. She pressed his shoulders down on the bed, but that only made him more aggressive,

"_No!_" Negi screamed, striking Asuna with a back handed slap across the face hard enough to knock her back just as the door opened and Reiko limped in on her cane.

Reiko took one look at the situation, and sprang into action. "Get away from him!" she screamed hoarsely at Asuna as she dropped to her knees on the floor to allow her to dig into her bag.

"Reiko! Can you tell what's wrong?" Asuna asked as she pressed herself to the wall on the other side of Negi's hospital bed. "That's not his voice!"

"_It's too close!_" Negi wailed as he flailed his arms and legs. His gaze darted around the room, unfocused.

"Something's attached itself to him!" Reiko had to shout to be heard over Negi's panicked babbling. "I couldn't see it before, dammit..." she muttered.

"Can you do anything?" Asuna asked, then yelped as one of Negi's flailing hands latched into her shirt and jerked her over to the bed. "Wha—hey! Wait! Negi...!"

Reiko just stared for a moment as Negi pulled Asuna into the bed with him, wrapped his arms around her, and buried his head in her chest.

"N-Negi! Wha—?" Asuna said. She felt her face heat up as she blushed all over. "Let go!"

Reiko shook herself out of her stupor and, red faced herself, reached into her bag and came up with a book of magic rituals and several items she could use to help focus power into the room for her to manipulate.

"Reiko! Help—_eek! _Help me!"

Reiko focused all the attention she could drag from the situation on the hospital bed on setting up her focus items, then returned to her bag for a sheaf of papers with magic circles printed on them.

"Dammit Reiko, _help me!_" Asuna wailed, trying to force Negi's head out of her cleavage. "He-he's gone crazy!"

"...keep him occupied," Reiko managed to say in spite of how shaky she was feeling. The power of the ghost possessing Negi, now that it had made itself known, was tremendous in this tiny room, not to mention the humiliating fact that she had somehow _missed its very existence despite being one of the most powerful mediums in the whole region_, but that wasn't what had her heart pounding, oh no. That honor went to the images rushing through her head which placed herself on that bed with Negi rather than the redhead; the realization of just how close that had been to actually coming true was enough to leave her breathless. Reiko herself knew just how vulnerable she was to Negi's charm; for someone who prided herself on having few weaknesses, it was a major one.

"...it's here..." Negi muttered, clearly terrified but significantly calmer now that he had had Asuna in his clutches. "It's coming to get me..."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is a good idea?" president of the Fortune Telling Club, Kotobuki Minami, asked as she easily kept up with a huffing Ono Ran as the two of them ran along the sidewalk. People on the street gave the two girls odd looks as they rushed by, but neither girl paid them any mind. "Are you <em>sure<em>?"

"I'm sure," Ran said between huffs.

'_**Wow, you're **_**really **_**out of shape, Ran,'**_ Kuroi Yuina said inside Ran's head. '_**We need to work on that; physical health is very important.'**_

'_So says the ghost living in my head,'_ Ran thought back at her as she slowed down and finally came to a stop beside a building, leaning on it for support as she tried to catch her breath. Minami appeared completely unaffected by the run in spite of keeping up with her the whole way. "You should hurry," Ran said. "Find Mari and go somewhere far away; I'll be okay," she said, pushing herself off of the wall. She taped another sheet on the wall, this one with a different kind of magic circle drawn on it. "Go on; I'll take care of what's left," Ran said, looking off to the northeast.

Minami frowned, her body language _screaming_ out how worried she was for her friend. "You be careful, okay Ran? If you need help, call me. Promise me, okay?"

Ran kept herself from looking at her friend's face, and nodded.

Minami gave her a piercing look, and finally nodded, clearly unsatisfied but willing to believe Ran. "You'll tell me and Mari about this once it's over, right?" She waited for Ran's reluctant nod before nodding in turn. "Take care, Ran-chan. See you later."

Ran watched her go until she went out of sight down the street, then turned her attention back to the magic circle she had just taped to the wall. "Here goes..." she said, placing the palm of her hand on the paper.

'_**I hope this works like you think it will,**_' Yuina said in her head.

"It will," Ran said aloud, and activated the circle.

* * *

><p>Sayo jerked and looked around wildly. "What was that?! It...it's weird!"<p>

"What?" Kazumi asked; she stopped walking and looked around for a moment. "Some kind of magic...?" she said, almost to herself.

Sayo nervously took her hand. "Come on, Kazumi-san. Let's go to where Negi-kun is; I don't like it out here...there's too much scary stuff happening..."

"...yeah," Kazumi said, a little freaked out herself by the sudden odd reverberations of magic she felt. They were incredibly small, but the effect was quite disconcerting. "Do you think it's something to do with that ghost eating monster you told me about?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't feel like that," Sayo replied, tugging on Kazumi's hand. "Let's go back now..."

They walked for perhaps five minutes before they turned on a side road and Sayo ran into the first barrier; Kazumi went right through it without even noticing its presence.

"Kazumi! Wait!" Sayo cried out. "I can't get through!"

Kazumi whirled to face the way she had come and ran back to Sayo. "What is it?"

"I don't know!" Sayo said, ghostly tears already gathering in her eyes. "It's like a wall, I can't get through!" she said frantically, pushing against the invisible barrier with all her strength. When that didn't have any effect, she smacked it as hard as she could with the palm of her hand, again to no effect.

Kazumi was beside her an instant later. "It'll be okay, Sayo-chan. Come on, let's go this way," she said, gently pulling Sayo along as she continued down the street. A minute or so later when they took another turn, Sayo hit another barrier...or perhaps the same one. "...let's go that way," Kazumi said, pointing down the road away from the wall. They had gone perhaps two hundred yards before Sayo hit another barrier parallel to the first.

"What _is _this?" Sayo demanded as she pouted at the invisible wall barring her progress.

"That magic we felt earlier probably came from someone activating it," Kazumi said as she hesitantly held out a hand and tried to sense the barrier. "I wonder why..." A sudden pulse in the oppressive feeling flowing between the two barriers from the northeast snapped both girls' attention back to their other problem.

Kazumi bit her lip as she used her finely tuned sense for ghosts to track the ghost eating monster's progress. "It's closer now, probably already past those big office buildings they built a while back..." she said, trailing off as she looked back at Sayo, who met her gaze nervously. "The barriers... They're..."

"...they're like a cattle chute," Sayo finished, then glanced sharply back to the northeast, toward the ghost eater. Her eyes shot back to Kazumi's, big and nervous looking. "K-Kazumi-san..." she said, putting her hand up on the invisible barrier.

Kazumi tried to swallow the sudden nervous lump in her throat and did her best to hide the dawning horror she felt at the realization that Sayo was trapped in what amounted to a cage with a ghost eating monster. "C-come on, Sayo-chan; it's not like you to give up so quickly. Let's keep going," she said, somehow managing to maintain her composure as all sorts of horrible images flowed through her mind.

"O-okay," Sayo said, taking her hand. The two of them started off down the road between the two barriers.

* * *

><p>'<em>Looks like everything is working properly,' <em>Ran thought.

'_**That's a bad sign, usually,**_' Yuina promptly replied.

Ran was inclined to agree, but this was no time to wallow in pointless cynicism; she had a plan to follow, and now she had to go see a certain young man...

Ran trotted along the sidewalk, pleased that her barriers were working as they should. Every once in a while, she passed a terrified ghost or rampaging spirit trapped between them, but she couldn't spare any time for such things, and none of them approached her. To them, she was simply another human...something to ignore, even in a time like this. She couldn't help but feel a little bad as she left the ghosts and spirits to their fates, but she couldn't do anything for them. She continued on, pacing herself as well as she could.

She was passed a moment later by a red headed woman dragging along a ghost by the hand. She gave the duo an odd look and paused. She didn't know the woman, but that was definitely the ghost that attended class with her...! If Aisaka Sayo was trapped between the two barriers, then...

"Damn..." she muttered aloud.

'_**I'm sorry, Ran,**_' Yuina said.

Ran didn't reply for a moment as she plodded on, tired from a day of walking all over the city with Minami, carrying heavy bags of paper. '_I didn't want-'_ Her thought was cut off by a sudden burst of ghostly power from perhaps a mile ahead. This was followed almost immediately by a sudden focusing of the ghost eater's attention, maybe three miles behind her.

'_**There's no more time!**_'

"I know," Ran said. She paused a moment to catch her breath, and took off running as fast as she could. With any luck, she might find someone with a bike she could borrow, but until then...she had to get there before the ghost eater, or her whole plan would come to naught.

* * *

><p>"Come on Reiko, how long does it take to exorcise a ghost?" Asuna demanded, clenching her teeth as Negi squeezed her more tightly than ever. He hadn't done anything but squeeze her like that, but still... Nodoka, who had arrived a few minutes before, sat at the foot of the wall by the door in a daze, her face blazing red and her eyes seeming to stare off into space after catching an eyeful of Negi and Asuna on the hospital bed. She hadn't moved since her arrival.<p>

"There's more to this than you seem to think...!" Reiko ground out between clenched teeth as she mentally wrestled with the ghost possessing Negi. It was incredibly powerful, almost as strong as Sayo and easily the most powerful ghost she had ever tried to exorcise, and it seemed to have been attached to Negi for quite some time as well, making the job of exorcising it even harder. She could tell the ghost, evidently in some sort of mindless semi-hibernation, was scared, but she didn't care; she was frustrated too, and she was tired of looking at Negi holding Asuna so close, damn it! Her mental grip on the ghost slipped, and she lost all the ground she had gained in the last ten minutes of intense struggling.

All that effort, all that time having to watch Negi snuggling with Asuna...something in Reiko's head snapped. "You get out of him _right this second...!_" she shouted, grabbing Negi by the sides of his head. The next few seconds were a blur for Reiko. There was a brief image of Negi's eyes glowing an eerie purplish black even through Reiko's graying vision, Asuna squeaked as Negi squeezed her painfully tight with one arm, and then the other flashed up and the back of Negi's fist hit Reiko's cheek.

It was just a simple strike, a product of his highly trained body rather than his skill with magic or ki. Still, it left Reiko stunned. The next thing she knew, she was lying against the wall, looking at the surprised expression on Negi's face as he looked at Asuna, his arm still around her waist.

"Uh...Negi? Is that you?" Asuna asked.

Negi shoved her away off the side of the bed, ignoring her startled squawk as she hit the floor on her back, his eyes darting around frantically. He lurched up out of the bed and promptly fell flat on his face with a rather feminine cry.

"Reiko-san! Get up! I'll distract him while you exorcise the ghost!" Nodoka said, shaking her shoulder.

Reiko shook her off and looked around for her bag, which she found lying nearby. She dragged it over to her and looked at it dumbly for a moment, still dazed from the hit to the face. She heard Nodoka shouting something and looked over to see Negi scooting back into a corner on his bottom, his eyes wild and frantic as they darted from Nodoka to Asuna to Reiko and back to Nodoka again.

Reiko shook her head to clear it. "Stay away from him!" she said. "It's not Negi, it's the ghost! Use your artifact, see if you can pick up any of its thoughts through Negi," she said as she took her bag and dumped its contents on the floor to better find what she needed.

"Adeat!"

Reiko ignored Nodoka as she snatched up a small crystal pendant she used as a focus object during particularly difficult exorcisms. "Asuna! Talk to him!" she said.

"Um...uh, hi, Negi. ...how are you today?" Asuna said lamely. Negi looked frantically from face to face as if facing a bunch of strangers as he pressed his back into the corner so he could see the whole room, small as it was.

"It's no use, it's like he's asleep," Nodoka said, looking up sharply from her artifact.

Reiko ground her treeth. "Why you—" She cut herself off mid-sentence with a cry and staggered, while Negi clamped his hands to the sides of his head and let out an agonized scream, his legs thrashing. Reiko collapsed against the wall and slid down it, unable to maintain her balance. "What the hell was _that_?" she demanded when she had regained her breath enough to speak.

Nodoka looked from Negi, still squirming in the corner, to Reiko, and then to Asuna, who looked as taken aback by the suddenness of...whatever had just happened to the other two as she was herself. "What are you talking about? Did something just happen...?"

The door slammed open and a skinny girl with long black hair half stepped, half fell into the room. Nodoka let out a yelp as the girl almost ran into her, her chest heaving as she leaned against the wall. "You shouldn't be in here, this is a private room—" Nodoka said.

The girl pointed at Nodoka, and she collapsed in an instant, dropping her mind reading book. The girl, still frantically trying to catch her breath, swiped some of the long black hair out of her face as she headed for Negi, and Asuna caught a glimpse of a half-familiar face as she moved to block the girl's way.

"Stop right there!" Asuna demanded, her hand on the hilt of the black katana she always carried with her. The girl pointed at her, then looked up at her abruptly, her eyes wide as she locked gazes with Asuna. "Listen to me, I don't know what—hey!" Asuna shouted as the girl pointed at Reiko, who was sneaking up behind her, and dropped the sarcastic medium the same way she had dropped Nodoka. She pointed at Asuna again, and hesitated.

"Ono-san...wasn't it?" Asuna said warily. She had seen the girl around Mahora, but couldn't recall ever having spoken with her. The only way she knew the girl's name and face, in fact, was because she had seen Ono's picture in Negi's class roster.

The girl sucked in a quick breath.

"You're the one who knocked out Negi," Asuna said, her voice menacing as she took a step forward. Ono Ran took another step back, clenched her teeth, and pointed at Asuna again.

"Why isn't it working?!" the girl said, as if to herself. Her eyebrows went up in surprise a few seconds later. "Magic cancel?!"

Asuna paused in the middle of another menacing step forward. "How do you know that?" she demanded.

Ran looked past Asuna to Negi, then back to Asuna, and tried to dart past her toward the teacher.

Asuna snagged the tired, unathletic girl around the middle and grunted as she lifted her up off the ground and held her kicking in the air.

"Put me down!"

"No! Not until you explain whatever it is you're trying to accomplish by knocking out my friends!" Asuna bellowed as she gave Ran a good shake. "What did you do to them?" she demanded. She was pleasantly surprised to see Nodoka already starting to stir. Ran stayed silent, so Asuna shook her again, a little more violently, then heaved her over onto the hospital bed and climbed up on top of her, using her knees to pin Ran's arms next to her body. "What's going on? Did you do something to stir up the ghosts? Answer me!"

Ran looked stubbornly away, until her eyes caught sight of Negi again, obviously dazed and barely able to think, and yet watching her and Asuna like a cornered animal.

"I did," Ran said.

Asuna squeezed the girl a little tighter; from the way Ran squirmed, she definitely felt it. "Undo it."

"I can't," Ran said quickly. "There's a monster out there, one that eats ghosts..." she said, then paused as if suddenly wondering if she should have said as much as she had.

Asuna looked down at the girl, her expression cold and distant in spite of the horror she felt inside at the idea of a creature that ate ghosts. She couldn't see them herself except under special circumstances, but that didn't mean she thought ghosts weren't people just like the living. She had gone to school with one for goodness' sake...! "Did you bring it here?" she asked, her voice colder than she had intended.

"No. I trapped it; it's out there in front of the building now. It's after _her_," she said, jerking her head toward Negi.

"She's telling the truth," Nodoka said suddenly. Ran jerked in surprise under Asuna, but remained firmly pinned.

"Damn you, you little brat," Reiko growled as she dragged herself upright by the bed, rubbing her forehead. "What did you do to me?"

"She 'overloaded your mental processes', it says," Nodoka read from her artifact, then looked up sharply at Ran. "She's talking to someone else in her head...is it telepathy?" she asked Ran, then looked back down at her book. Her eyebrows shot up. "There's someone else in her head with her! What's the other person's name?" Nodoka quickly called up a second instance of her artifact, a skill she had developed shortly after first receiving her pactio with Negi and had managed to perfect a year later. If pushed, she could summon dozens upon dozens of extras; she had done so, on occasion, and used an extremely complex variation of the same skill to run the mental networks all of Negi's friends and followers relied upon so often. "Kuroi Yuina," Nodoka said aloud. "Asuna! Look out!"

* * *

><p>'<em><strong>Ran! I'm taking over!'<strong>_ Yuina said.

'_Wait...!'_

Ran felt herself shoved back into her own head and had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming at the frightful sensation...until she realized she no longer had a tongue.

'_Yuina! What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?!'_

_**'Hold on, Ran! Just hold on!'**_

* * *

><p>Asuna glanced back at Nodoka, a question forming on her lips when Ran lurched under her with an impossible display of strength from that slender body and heaved her off. Asuna hit the floor and was up again half a second later, her sword drawn and the tip held against Ran's throat as she stood in front of Negi.<p>

"You are making a mistake," Ran said, her voice different, lower, the voice of a mature woman rather than a fourteen year old girl. Her eyes were different as well, sharper, older, more confident of her ability...the eyes of someone who had been through hell and back, the eyes of a survivor. Asuna knew the look; she saw it in the mirror every morning and in many of her friends.

"Who are you? What did you do to Negi's student?" Asuna demanded, locking gazes with the person in Ran's body.

"We are running out of time; Aisaka Sayo is trapped out there with the Ghost Eater; are you ready to sacrifice her existence to ask a few pointless questions?"

"Nodoka?" Asuna asked without breaking her gaze.

"She's telling the truth," Nodoka said, sounding sick. "Asuna..."

"Dammit," Reiko said, then let out a searing string of invectives as she threw the door open and staggered out into the hallway.

"Reiko will—"

"She's not strong enough," Ran said, cutting Asuna off. "Not to destroy the ghost eater before my barriers break. Not even Aisaka is strong enough. This one, though, this is the one the ghost eater is after," Ran said, then, with a motion of her arm so casual Asuna didn't notice it until it was too late to react, slapped the blade away from her throat and laid the palm of her hand on Negi's forehead. Negi let out a strangled scream, his back arching as his limbs went stiff. The ghost in possession of Ono Ran's body grunted with the effort of controlling the ghost possessing Negi's body. "Get that medium before she leaves the building! Quickly! _Quickly!_" she shouted back at Asuna.

Asuna shot a quick glance at Nodoka, who nodded at her, and bolted out through the door. Outside the room, the hallway held several groggy members of the security team, evidently more victims of Ono Ran. Asuna swore under her breath as she ran past them.

—_Asuna, wait! Don't go outside!—_

Asuna skidded to a halt just outside the stairwell that led up to ground level. '_Nodoka? Why? What's going on?'_ she thought back at the other woman. That had definitely been panic in Nodoka's voice...

—_Ono-I mean Kuroi-san says if you go outside, your magic cancellation ability might destroy the ghost eater's trap. I've contacted Kazumi...she's outside with Sayo-chan. She says Sayo's safe; she was __outside the cage when it activated. If she had been just a little slower...—_

Asuna heaved a sigh of relief. '_What about Reiko?'_

—_I've called her back. Asuna...Kuroi-san seems to know what she's doing, but I don't trust her. From what I can tell, she's thousands of years old, and...and she can block my mind reading.—_

Asuna blinked at that. Kuroi Yuina, the ghost in Ran-chan's head, could block Nodoka's telepathy...? That was a rare skill...it happened from time to time, sure, but that didn't make it any less shocking when it did. Asuna could count the number of people who had been able to block Nodoka's pactio skill over the past six years on one hand and still have room for Kuroi. Asuna shook her head and set that thought aside to deal with later as she looked at the door to the stairwell; judging by what she was hearing, someone was coming down in a hurry. She heard Reiko shout something in an unmistakably relieved tone of voice, and couldn't help but smile. '_That has to be Kazumi and Sayo-chan,' _she thought to herself. The stairs were quite long and Reiko was in terrible shape; it was no wonder she hadn't even made it all the way up to ground level yet. She opened the door. "Come on, hurry up! There's no time to waste!" she shouted up.

"Coming down!" Kazumi shouted back. Kazumi and Reiko both came down a moment later, Kazumi smirking at Reiko and Reiko huffing as she glared at Kazumi, for all the world as if nothing was wrong.

"Is Sayo-chan here?" Asuna asked. Kazumi and Reiko both answered in the affirmative, then looked at each other. Reiko rolled her eyes, a move unintentionally mirrored by Kazumi, and Asuna led them back to the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Next chapter is the last of the Darkness arc. It won't be long after that that Book 2 ends. Remember "Meet the New Class", my collection of short stories based around the members of the new class? Well, "Meet the Old Class" will come out between Book 2 and Book 3. Look forward to it!_


	24. Ch 21 Darkness: Rikki

_Sunday, July 12th, Afternoon_

* * *

><p>Student Number Eleven, Sophie Rivers, paused in front of the door to her dorm room and looked furtively down the hallway before opening the door. She quickly slipped inside, and shut the door after her.<p>

"Hey, Sophie. What are you doing back so early?" her roommate, Student Number Twelve, Takahashi Shizuko, said from her spot on the top bunk as she put down the magazine she had been reading. "What's up?"

Sophie just blinked at her for a moment. '_How do I hide what I'm doing? Shizuko may be a little bit of an airhead, but she's not stupid...'_ "I'm...getting something I forgot," she said, hating how nervous she felt. Her roommate Shizuko was probably her best friend in the whole country other than that girl Maple Birdsong, who often met up with her out in the woods when she was doing her shaman thing; Shizuko didn't know anything about the things Sophie knew how to do as far as she could tell, and she wanted very much to keep it that way.

Here in Japan, Sophie was a foreigner; with her blonde hair and orange eyes, she stuck out from the Japanese population, even in a city as racially diverse as Mahora, not to mention the scar across her cheek...something she had received in a wild run through the forest to escape a vulture like those which plagued her thoughts and visions. She _hated _vultures...just the sight of a vulture circling high above was enough to send chills racing down her spine.

But, in spite of the fact that she would most likely have been made into an outcast in any other Japanese city of a similar size, in Mahora she might as well have been a local celebrity; for whatever reason, everyone seemed to know who she was, younger students seemed to look up to her, and strangers would strike up conversations with her in the street. She had never experienced anything like it. Back when she was under Cesar's training far, far to the west, she had had to dodge rocks and curses whenever she went into town; while they hadn't known about her secret, they had suspected, and that had been enough for them to treat her appearance as a bad omen. No one had spoken to her back there with anything but a curse. Here, though...

Sophie knelt down and reached under her bed, feeling around for the bag in which she kept the toolkit she had assembled with such care over the years. Her hand closed on a cheap nylon strap and she breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly pulled the bag out from under the bed and put it up on the bottom bunk, where Shizuko couldn't see it.

"Something wrong?"

Sophie was glad she wasn't facing her roommate, because her expression would have given the whole thing away. Shizuko was oddly perceptive...she had almost discovered Sophie's secret several times because of it, and Sophie knew Shizuko's curiosity must be eating her alive. It said a lot about the girl that she had never poked through Sophie's things. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just low on time," she lied as she unzipped the bag, rooted around inside for a moment, and zipped it shut again. "I'll probably be late coming back; don't worry if it gets dark."

She could tell Shizuko was looking at her, and tried very carefully to avoid thinking about shaman-related things as she hefted the backpack up and strapped it on. "Well, I'm off."

"Good luck," Shizuko said as she watched her go.

It wasn't until Sophie was out of the dorm building that she finally felt safe. She had almost run over the current dorm mother, a woman called Akashi Yuuna, on her way down the stairs...Akashi Yuuna was another dangerous one; the woman seemed to wear a knowing grin at all times, and Sophie's instincts screamed at her that the dorm mother was sharp as a tack, definitely no one to let down her guard around. But, once free of the dorm, Sophie was back in her element; she took off at a comfortable run for the woods, where she could disappear from just about anyone and, more importantly, where she commonly performed her shamanic rituals. She trotted through the undergrowth in near silence, her breath and the occasional scuff of a branch on cloth the only sounds she made in her passage.

Finally, she made it to the small clearing where she commonly performed her rituals. It was the work of minutes to prepare the site. She had just finished setting up the tiny campfire when another presence entered the clearing. A very brief pause was all it required to discover the identity of her visitor.

"Hello, Maple. Do you feel it too?"

Maple Birdsong, looking more haggard than ever, nodded in reply as Sophie looked up. "I do. I don't know what it is, but Trinity's upset," she said, shyly shifting the shovel she carried from one hand to the other.

"You won't need that," Sophie said as she dug out the small spice bottles full of the colored powders she used in her rituals. "It's a ghost thing, not physical."

"Oh..." Maple said, then thrust the point of her shovel into the ground so it would stand upright and out of the way on its own. "What is it?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm about to find out. Want to join me?" she asked, gesturing to a spot across the fire from her.

Maple hesitated a moment, then nodded and quickly sat down by the small fire, mimicking Sophie's crosslegged seating position. "What do I need to do?"

"Just sit there and concentrate on the drum; the ritual will do the rest," Sophie said as she sprinkled certain powders over the fire, making it flare up and turn different colors. Intellectually she knew the powders were just for show, but that sort of thing counted for a lot when dealing with spirits and the supernatural; she wasn't yet at the level where she could accomplish much without going through these rituals, either. There was a lot she knew...intellectually. It didn't do her a bit of good in actual practice, however. It would, in time; she had seen that much in her own visions. But now, in the present day? Not a chance.

She took out the tiny, tambourine-like drum she used as a tool to help her focus, and glanced across the fire at her friend Maple. She didn't know much about the other girl, but...she shivered as she again recalled the terrifying vision she had had when first meeting her, when she had seen Maple Birdsong standing under the protection of a shade of Death Himself, represented by a huge vulture with a skeletal head and glowing eyes. Sophie made a very small grin. In spite of the horror of that vision, she had quickly become great friends with Maple, a stronger friendship even than that she shared with her roommate Shizuko. They just...clicked. She supposed it probably helped that they were both far from home.

Maple looked up at her, and Sophie looked away. "Okay; let's start."

* * *

><p>"What is going <em>on<em>...?" Student Number Twenty Five, Mori Kumiko, said aloud as she sat up on her bed.

"Huh?" her roommate, Kondo Kai, said as she looked up from the homework she had neglected to finish earlier. "Did you say something?" she asked, eager for something to distract her from the tedium of mathematics.

"It's nothing," Kumiko said as she got up off her bed and went over to the dresser. She opened a drawer and rummaged around for a moment while Kai watched, and palmed the special lens she had been looking for. She also grabbed her coin purse to provide a handy visual excuse for her actions, and headed for the door. "I'll be out for a while; do you want anything?"

Kai grinned. "Yeah! Bring me back a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream!"

Kumiko cocked an eyebrow in mock-sarcasm. "Get it yourself."

Kai stuck her tongue out at her, but laughed anyway. Kumiko couldn't help but grin at the familiar back and forth as well as she grabbed a pair of sneakers and headed out. Once out in the hallway, Kumiko's grin vanished. She paused for a moment, trying to figure out where the strange sensation she felt in her head was originating, and trotted down to the end of the hall, where a large window provided a good view of the surrounding area. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then pulled the lens she had taken from her drawer out of her pocket. She lifted it up to her right eye and spoke the activation phrase Ciel had taught her when she gave her the lens years ago. Through the lens, the world changed.

The usual, everyday world vanished when viewed through the lens; in its place was a world normally unseen by the living, the world of ghosts and spirits. In that world, things appeared differently than Kumiko was used to. Cars and signs and plants were indistinct, even large trees seemed unsubstantial...except for the world tree, of course. The living might as well have not existed for the most part, simply because the dead couldn't interact with them.

But all of that was swept aside when she saw the path of destruction through the city. It was hard to describe, really...more a lack of color and movement compared to the area around it than any physical damage, but it was obvious some ghostly _thing_ had plowed right through the city, destroying everything it touched...from what she could see, it had left quite a wide swath of damage behind. Kumiko had lived in the United States for several years, and had once seen first hand the path a tornado had taken through a small town; this seemed much the same. Lowering the lens showed the living world to have been left untouched, as if nothing had happened at all.

Kumiko ran for the stairs, nearly bowling over the current dorm mother on her way down. She muttered a quick apology and continued down without waiting for an answer. A moment later she was out on the street, running in the direction from which the sensation that had so disturbed her all morning had come. As she ran, she looked around at the other people out on the street, enjoying this hot Sunday afternoon, utterly clueless as to what was happening right under their noses. When she was younger, she used to wish she couldn't see what she could see, or know what she knew. Kumiko made a rueful grin as she slowed to a more manageable pace. To live in a state of utter ignorance, where her view of the world was so narrow...? She shook her head. "Yeah right, like that'd be interesting at all," she muttered as she reached the area she had spotted from the window earlier. Looking around to make sure no one was looking at her, she took out the lens and held it up so she could see the destruction first hand.

She couldn't help but gasp.

Looking at it from that window was different from actually being there, right in the middle of it. Her earlier thought came back to her: it was indeed as if a tornado had come through. An area roughly thirty yards wide had simply been wiped clean; nothing was left, not even the spiritual representations of roads or old buildings, some of the most permanent unnatural things in the spiritual world, remained. There wasn't a ghost or spirit in sight, either.

Kumiko remembered belatedly to school her expression into one of boredom as she swiftly pocketed the lens and trotted off down the path of destruction.

* * *

><p>"Move over to the other side," Ran said. Kazumi climbed over the bed to stand by the wall; Sayo stuck with her closely, glancing nervously back at Reiko, who had collapsed into a chair as soon as she returned to the room and hadn't moved since.<p>

"What about me?" Asuna asked. "And you're going to explain all this to me after this is over!" she said. "And who was speaking a moment ago? That sure wasn't _you_."

"That was a friend of mine; her name is Kuroi Yuina. I'll explain who she is later...but that's not important right now. We need to get him back on the bed. Negi-sensei trusts you enough that even the ghost possessing him seems to sense it," Ran said. "See if you can get him back on the bed." Nodoka looked troubled at that statement, but kept her silence.

"Can't you just knock him out again?" Reiko said, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she sat in the chair. "I mean, that seems to be your default reaction whenever you meet someone new."

Ran spared Reiko a quick glance, one which held no malice. "No. The ghost must be awake for this. She _must_ be awake. If not, she can't stop—" Ran cut herself off there.

"Yeah yeah," Reiko said, reluctantly accepting the younger girl's explanation. "She's almost got him there," she said, pointing at Negi and Asuna.

The ghost possessing Negi glanced at Reiko, saw her pointing, and flipped out. It shoved Asuna toward the bed, which she fell over backward with a yelp. Negi spotted the doorway and headed for it in a stumbling run as if barely able to control his own body, but Kazumi's instincts kicked in and she grabbed him from behind. Had Negi been himself, with his years and years of training and amazing reflexes honed by years of experience, she wouldn't have had a chance. As it was, with the ghost in incomplete control of his body and barely able to think, Sayo zipped into Kazumi, took brief control of her body, and lifted Negi bodily overhead in something not unlike a german suplex, throwing him onto the bed on his back.

"You! There!" Ran said, pointing at Reiko. Reiko had half a second to widen her eyes in surprise before some invisible force took control of her body and it threw itself on top of Negi before he could scramble off the bed.

Finding herself chest to chest and face to face with Negi, Reiko didn't have time to do more than blush before Kazumi threw herself over their legs and Asuna snagged one of Negi's arms before the ghost possessing him could do anything with it; Nodoka wrapped herself around his other arm and sent a sharp look at Asuna. Asuna, for her part, seemed surprised, then smiled and nodded at the other girl. An instant later, a weight came down on Reiko's back and she let out a pained gasp.

"I'm sorry Sakai-san, but please bear with it," Ran said as she settled into place on top of Reiko and leaned forward to put her hands on each side of Negi's head. "We need to calm her; this may take some time," she said softly, her long black hair hanging down like a curtain around Reiko and Negi's heads seemed to block out the rest of the world. Negi's eyes darted around wildly, but the ghost possessing him didn't try anything violent; if there was anything good about this situation, that was probably the extent of it.

'_**So that's the best that can be said for it, is it?' **_Kuroi Yuina said. _**'Kind of kinky; I didn't know you were into that sort of thing. Of course, I suppose everyone experiments at some point...'**_

Ran blushed deeply, intensely thankful that her hair was hiding her face and her expression, which couldn't seem to decide whether it wanted to be embarrassed, horrified, or curious. She quickly shook it off, however; Yuina only ever said things like that when the situation was deadly serious, as a way of getting Ran to focus on the task at hand rather than whatever ideas were going through her head. Ran appreciated the effort; she just wished Yuina wouldn't be so embarrassing about it. '_Quiet, you.'_

"Hurry it up," Reiko snarled. "This is..."

Embarrassing? Exhilarating? Ran didn't know, and Reiko didn't seem to want to say. Ran would have bet quite a bit that Reiko was thoroughly enjoying the fact that she was lying flat on top of none other than Negi Springfield, but she kept her comments to herself. Even though Ran didn't know Sakai Reiko as much more than a face and a name, she could tell the girl was crazy about the teacher, as was almost everyone else present, even herself, she supposed.

'_**Focus, Ran-chan.'**_

Ran shook her head to clear it, and got to work.

* * *

><p>Mori Kumiko trotted along the invisible path of destruction, only occasionally taking the time to look through the lens for a peek at the spirit world as she went; there was no longer any need, now that she was so close to the source of the unpleasant sensation she could feel down in her bones. Finally she came out from between two buildings and into a wide open field she recognized after a moment as the one beside the school's administration building. Kumiko trotted out into the field and paused, looking around. The strange sensation was overpowering now, but...birds were singing in the trees, a squirrel was running around near the bushes, and a teacher was walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the field as if he didn't have a care in the world.<p>

Kumiko's stomach felt like it was trying to do flips.

She supposed that was the difference between a Detector like her and a normal person: knowledge of hidden things, and ignorance. She just wished strong ghostly things didn't make her feel sick to her stomach. Detecting was a rare ability, especially when it came as strong as it did in her. She supposed that was why those rogue mages from the Ukraine Mages' Association had come after her and her family...she couldn't help but sneer at the memory of them, lying bloody and lifeless after their run in with her family's contracted guardians. The guardians were too late for her family, but...Kumiko had only been four at the time, so she couldn't recall much beyond blood and fire, and the sight of those rogue mages lying dead. The guardian creatures had left after avenging her parents' deaths...she thought sometimes about how convenient it might be to have a guardian creature or two of her own, but Ciel had always told her they often required a steep price, and were not the same as a real friend or even a pet. Still... Kumiko idly took the lens out of her pocket and lifted it up to her eye.

She bit back a scream and dropped the lens as she stumbled back.

It was _huge_, and it was _right there_. She dropped to the ground and scrambled for the lens. When she brought it up again, the...the _thing_ she was looking at had moved over to the other side of the field, and seemed to be trying to push through some sort of barrier. It was hard to describe...it was a huge dark shifting _shape_ hidden by a thick black haze that reminded Kumiko more than anything else of thick black smoke belching from the smokestack of an old fashioned steam train, like the ones she saw sometimes on TV. Flailing tube-tentacles emerged from the black cloud from time to time; anything they touched in the spirit world either crumbled away or was sucked up, and the field in front of the building was almost completely empty; even the spirit world's grass was gone.

"It's...it's trapped," Kumiko said aloud, unable to hide the relief she felt at the prospect. But...if it was trapped, someone had to have created the trap. Curious, she held up the lens again to get a feel for the space the creature was trapped in. "Okay..." She paused, turning her head this way and that, the same way she had to find Possum after the other girl was vampirized. She supposed it wasn't unlike what blind people did to 'see' if something was in front of them. Possum Cade...she _still_ didn't know how to act around the other girl; Possum certainly _seemed_ like a normal girl her age, but...Kumiko shivered. She had watched Possum drain a rat of its blood in an alleyway the day before she had been found at the festival. Kumiko was aware of the others as well, Evangeline and Jonus, and Carrick, whatever _he _was. Not to mention the others in her class...there were a _ton_ of weirdos in this town; for the most part she just tried to keep to herself and not attract any undue attention, but it was often difficult, and Eva at least had already shown that she knew exactly who Kumiko was, and that she knew she was from the Burial Agency as well, something Kumiko hadn't told anyone since arriving in Japan. It was scary...

"Found it," Kumiko said aloud as she looked at a magic circle drawn on a piece of paper that had been taped up on the bottom of a stone bench. She smoothed out the tape to make sure it was sticking properly, and stood up.

"You'd better be careful with that."

"Kyah!" Kumiko screeched as she whirled to see who had snuck up on her. '_Speak of the devil,'_ she thought despairingly.

Eva just stood there glaring at her, with their classmates Chachamaru and Rally Wheeler standing behind her. "You didn't rip it, did you?" she demanded.

Kumiko shook her head frantically. "N-no! I didn't! I was just fixing it! I-I don't want _that_ to get loose!" she said, pointing at where she had last seen the creature through the lens.

Eva glanced over where Kumiko was pointing. "It's over there now," she said, pointing off to the side.

Kumiko took a quick look through her lens and adjusted her aim. Eva just looked at her until she felt foolish and stopped pointing. "What is it?" Kumiko asked after a moment. She lifted her lens up again so she could see it.

"Aisaka Sayo said it was a 'ghost eater'," Eva replied, evidently deciding it wasn't worth it to follow her vampirish tendencies and dismember Kumiko today as she settled her hands on her hips while she watched the creature without the aid of magical tools.

"'Ghost eater'...?" Kumiko asked.

"It eats ghosts," Rally added helpfully from behind Eva.

"I...I see," Kumiko said. Now that she thought about it, what were the class's two robots doing with the class's first vampire? And why were they dressed like maids? Did vampires have robot maids nowadays...?

"What are you staring at?" Eva asked irritably as she sent a halfhearted glare at Kumiko.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Kumiko said, holding her hands up to show how innocent of staring she was. '_Please, someone, anyone, help me... Eva's scaring the crap outta me...!'_

* * *

><p><em>She couldn't quite understand what was going on; she felt slow and stupid, as if she had been asleep for a long, long time, and then woken up before she was ready. The last thing she could recall, she had bid goodbye to her Max as he walked away from her favorite spot out by the ocean. And then...what? She had thought for sure she was moving on to whatever hell awaited her after all the bad things she had done, after lying to her friends for so long, but...she could recall brief glimpses of her brother—Jingle, they had all called him—in his workshop, working with his summoned demon, casting some spell over a small flat object like a card, and then...what? A chase. Blood; she could almost still see it, splashed on the sand, dripping from fingers. Then waves and water and salt? Storms and tropical heat as she floated against the current? It was a jumble of disorganized images, and none of it made any sense to her. <em>

_Now and again, she would drift off to sleep again, and dream dreams of huge stone temples like she had seen in Greece, and sometimes of a handsome young redheaded man, the opposite of her Max in looks if not temper. He was always sad in those dreams, thinking about his many friends or the few members of his family. Sometimes he would speak about them, though his words were often unfamiliar to her. She caught the occasional name, however; judging from what she could tell, he was speaking of Japanese people. The name 'Asuna' was mentioned often, as was the name 'Nodoka'. Others were mentioned too, 'Yue' and 'Misa' and 'Ayaka' among others._

_She rather liked the red headed young man._

_He was friendly and kind in spite of his sadness, and cared deeply for his friends and family. She wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be alright, but he couldn't see her; he couldn't hear her. And, for some reason, he felt more _real_ than she did herself. _

That _little thought brought about a whole host of disturbing ideas, ideas which her strange difficulty in __thinking made incredibly frustrating. She just didn't understand. Why should she feel more like the __inhabitant of a dream than the red headed man? Why didn't he react to her presence? Why couldn't she _think_? She tried to speak aloud, but she couldn't make any sounds; she had no mouth._

_She had no mouth because she had no head. She had no head, just as she had no arms or legs. She had no arms and legs because she didn't even have a body. The realization was terrifying, and it drove her to cling to the only thing that seemed real to her in the dream world in which she was trapped: the young red headed man. When next he appeared, she attached herself to him, clinging to him as well as she could. Her periods of waking were replaced by dreams until she was unsure which was which; the only constant was the young red headed man and the artificial nightfall her shadow brought over the world._

_She clung to him, and she was comforted by his presence. He didn't know she even existed, but the warmth of his existence was enough to lull her back to an uneasy sleep, haunted by visions of a lost love and the beast searching for her._

_Sometimes the nightmares would wake her up, only to reveal the young man to be more troubled than before. Other times she would fall asleep clinging to him as he walked through the dream, unaware of her presence. And then, after an interminable period of sleep broken only by the occasional dream, something new happened._

_Darkness of a different sort than her own ripped its way into the world; the young man vanished in the midst of his dream, and she was left stunned, floating in the darkness with nothing left that she could see, and fear began to grow as she felt the presence of the beast grow ever closer. From fear grew panic, and she clung to warm memories of the young red headed man as tightly as she could until a pair of cold, skeletal hands gripped the sides of her head and she opened her mouth to scream._

She woke up.

* * *

><p>The first thing she noticed other than those cold, dead hands gripping the sides of her head was the soft shape she was lying on and clinging to, and then the back of her fist struck the dead one, knocking her away. The next thing she noticed was how <em>wrong<em> everything felt. She looked down at her too-big hand, its skin oddly pale...far from her usual olive complexion. Her gaze trailed from her hand to her wrist and on to her elbow, her forearm—far too big—and from there to the rather feminine hip her elbow was resting on. Her eyes widening, her gaze shot up the strange woman's body to her face and her odd, different-colored eyes. The woman said something in a language she didn't recognize even though it sounded vaguely familiar, and her eyes widened further.

She shoved the strange woman away, ignoring her startled squawk as she hit the floor on her back, and tried to climb out of the hospital bed she realized she was lying in. Something was wrong with her body; her arms and legs moved strangely, as if they belonged to someone else, and she couldn't control them properly; instead of the agile escape from these strange people she had envisioned, she clumsily slid off the bed and fell flat on her face, letting out a cry as she hit the floor.

Another woman she hadn't noticed before by the doorway began babbling in the same strange language the other had spoken, and the dead one, the one she had knocked down first, began digging around in a large cloth bag lying on the floor.

Her mind strangely fuzzy and barely able to think, she tried to stand up, but again her limbs wouldn't cooperate; the best she could manage was to scoot back into the corner of the room, where she could see all three strangers. The one she had hit babbled something else she couldn't understand, and then...then she heard something she _did _understand.

"Adeat!"

Alarm bells going off in her head, her eyes darted to the one by the door, who had just summoned some type of magic artifact in the shape of a book. She looked at the redhead with the mismatched eyes again, then at the dead girl, and back to the redhead when she started speaking that strange language again in what seemed to be intended as soothing tones.

'_Japanese, that's what it is,_' she realized suddenly. It made sense to her addled mind; all three of the strangers had vaguely Asian features. But what didn't make any kind of sense at all, she thought as her gaze went warily from face to face, was how she had ended up in Japan. That, and whatever was wrong with her mind, not to mention her body; it felt huge and uncoordinated. Looking down at her hand, it seemed somehow unfamiliar, far too big and clumsy, and too pale. Understanding where she was helped her calm down, if only a little. The trouble, she reflected as she eyed the woman by the door, was that she had no way of communicating with these three beyond hand signals; she didn't have a single word of Japanese.

All of that was driven from her mind, however, when _something_ struck her a huge blow that she felt through her soul rather than the odd, awkward body she now found herself trapped in. She clapped her hands to the sides of her head and let out a blood curdling scream.

The agony quickly faded to a more manageable level, but it was all she could do to keep from screaming again as understanding of the horror of that sensation struck her. It was as if something had tried to rip away her very _existence_! It had felt, if but for an instant, that everything that made her, well, _her_, had been in danger of...of what?

She wrapped her too-big arms around her too-big body and shivered as she tried to press herself as far back into the corner as she could. She heard someone speaking and looked up just in time to see a new girl, thin, her long black hair tangled and half-blocking her face, stumble in through the doorway. The woman with the magic book started to speak, but the black haired girl pointed at her and she collapsed. The girl turned her attention to _her_, next, and she wanted to scream again, but the woman with the red hair shouted something and the black haired girl pointed at her...and paused.

She blinked. She didn't know what magic the black haired girl was using, but pointing at someone was a dangerous thing; it allowed power to be more easily directed and amplified, and she had known more than one mage who used such a gesture to threaten others.

Her rambling thought processes were interrupted when the dead girl confronted the black haired girl, and was swiftly knocked out in the same manner as the pactio book woman. The next few minutes didn't make much sense to her, even compared to what had happened earlier. There was a lot of talking back and forth, and then the red haired woman picked the black haired girl up against her will and held her kicking and screaming in the air, and then pinned her on the bed. The others spoke back and forth for a moment while she tried unsuccessfully to follow their conversation, and then the black haired girl pinned on the bed _changed_. Without warning, she heaved off the red head and darted straight for _her_.

She pressed herself as tightly against the wall as she could, but the black haired girl froze in place, looking down at her. A moment later, she saw why: the red head had drawn a sword and lain it alongside the black haired girl's neck. The girl turned her attention away, and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

* * *

><p>Sophie glanced over at Maple as they flew through the sky. <em>'How is she still in that form...?'<em> she wondered, not for the first time. When Sophie had opened her eyes again in the spirit world alongside her friend Maple Birdsong, to call what she had felt upon seeing Maple in her normal human form 'shock' wouldn't have done it justice. Sophie had never seen anyone remain so thoroughly in the same form after stepping into the spirit world using the method she had used. Most people shifted into the form of their spirit animal when using the form of spirit walking Sophie was best at; those who didn't tended to become a sort of floating blob or vague humanoid shape instead. Not so, Maple. She simply stood there as she did when inside her body, looking down at Sophie as if she didn't even realize how bizarre it was that she _could_. Maple even took the time to brush her bangs out of her eyes; most people in spirit form didn't even have _hair. _It took her a few seconds to catch it, but Sophie felt like an idiot when she realized Maple would have had no way of knowing anything was strange; she probably thought S_ophie's_ spirit form was weird.

She quickly found something else to worry about, however, when something struck her a tremendous blow that knocked her from the sky with a cry. Maple caught her before she could fall to the ground, but when she looked up to give the other girl her thanks—a fall in the spirit world would hurt just like a fall in the real world—Maple was instead looking off toward their destination with a cold, distant look in her eye that sent shivers all the way down to Sophie's tailfeathers. "Th—"

"Let's go," Maple said, her voice low as she cradled Sophie's spirit form close to her chest and rocketed off toward the disturbance with far more speed than Sophie could ever muster.

* * *

><p>Sophie couldn't help but stare at the...the <em>thing<em> in front of the administration building. It was huge, hidden by a black cloud of miasma, and it bellowed as it smashed again and again into the barriers that had sprung up around it.

"_Abomination,"_ Maple growled as she slowed to a stop and released Sophie. Sophie settled down on the grass and gave her a sharp look, but Maple still had that faraway look in her eyes as she stared at the trapped _thing_ in front of her.

"Maple...?"

"_**Abomination**_," Maple repeated through clenched teeth.

Sophie gave her a startled look. "Maple? What are you—hey! Wait! That's dangerous!" she squawked after her friend as Maple took off running toward the 'abomination'. Sophie started to flutter forward, but quickly stopped herself; trapped in her spirit form, she would be helpless against such a monster. She looked around desperately for anything that might have been of some use when her gaze fell on her classmates Evangeline and Mori Kumiko, who appeared to be watching the monster from the sidelines. She looked back at Maple just as she charged through the barrier without even flinching, and half-ran, half-flew toward her classmates.

* * *

><p>"I must admit, <em>that's<em> impressive," Eva said, cocking an eyebrow as she watched the American girl dash through the barrier and head straight for the ghost eater. "Suicidally stupid, but impressive." Both eyebrows went up when, instead of devouring the girl, the ghost eater seemed to shrink away from her instead, as if it didn't want her to get close.

"Um...Eva-san?"

"Interesting," Eva said as her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "It almost seems _scared_ of her. _Very _interesting." Her lips parted in a toothy grin that widened as she watched Maple's spirit form swing what had to be a chainsaw at the ghost eater, which let out a terrified roar and redoubled its efforts to escape the cage it had found itself in.

"Eva-san..."

"Hmm...what will happen if she connects?" Eva said, as if to herself. A moment later, the question was answered for her as Maple's chainsaw struck a glancing blow against the ghost eater's flank; the wound spewed black smoke for a moment before closing as the ghost eater swung the huge bulbous shape that seemed to serve as its head. "I see; it can be wounded by a spiritual attack..."

"Eva-san!" Mori Kumiko shouted.

Kumiko shrank back when Eva turned her glare on her, but pointed at the spirit world 'visitor' that stood in front of her, looking up at her with an oddly imploring look on its ugly little birdy head.

Eva looked at the spirit world vulture standing in front of Kumiko and shrugged it off. "Don't worry, she's doing fine," Eva said, turning her attention back to the one sided fight as Maple Birdsong tried to corner the ghost eater in its cage.

"What do you-"

"I'm not talking to _you_," Eva snapped, cutting Kumiko off so sharply she yelped. "I was speaking to _her_," she said, pointing at the ugly spirit world vulture standing in front of Kumiko. She turned her attention back to the scene inside the barrier just as Maple landed a terrific blow and buried her chainsaw deep into the shadowy miasma around the ghost eater and cut out a chunk the size of her torso. The ghost eater let out an agonized roar and hemorrhaged black smoke as it lurched away.

"Oh, she hurt it," Eva said as she made an expression that was, if not one of surprise, its close cousin, as she eyed the chunk Maple had cut out of the monster. Even as she watched, it began to dissolve into smoke and quickly disintegrated. "Interesting. Very interesting."

Kumiko whimpered next to her as she watched Maple Birdsong, a girl whose name she didn't even know, face the ghost eating monster. "She's getting tired...is she going to be okay?" she asked nervously. She didn't want to see anyone get eaten, especially not someone who was normally a living, breathing person.

"We will have to see," Eva said, sparing a small shrug and a sideways glance in Kumiko's direction. "Somehow, I don't doubt it."

* * *

><p>Maple paused for a moment, eyeing the abomination as it finally found itself trapped against the wall and turned to face her. She didn't know why, but something about its very <em>existence<em> raised her hackles. She didn't even know what the big shadowy thing _was_, just that she hated everything about it on some deep, primitive level she didn't understand. Everything about it, from the greasy, unpleasant feeling of the space around it to the black miasma surrounding it in a cloud made her want to _end_ it. It was just...just _wrong_.

Her grip on the chainsaw she had somehow taken out of thin air tightened. In this spirit world Sophie had let her enter, everything was strangely _different_, from the way she saw the world to the way her senses, not quite the same as they were in her real body, detected her surroundings. It was different, and yet...it felt familiar, as if she had been here a million times before, and this, this _thing_ cowering before her...

Maple sneered at the ghost eater. "You are an _abomination_," she said, all but growling the last word, wondering why she had even spoken. She had a feeling...

The enormous black mass cornered before her lunged forward, but she brought up the chainsaw and hacked away at it, cutting out chunk after chunk, each of which fell hissing to the ground. The monster again cowered back, creeping as far back into the corner as it could without actually touching the barrier, and Maple found herself staggering back a few steps herself.

'_Why am I so tired...?_' she wondered, then glanced down at the chainsaw she held. It felt thin, tenuous...as if it could fade from existence at any moment.

"Still incomplete..." she muttered aloud, startling herself. She was exhausted, more exhausted than she had ever been before. She looked back up at the ghost eater, visibly smaller than it had been when she first attacked it, as it cowered in the corner. She barely noticed when the chainsaw faded into nothingness, replaced by a long shadowy shaft. "You..." she muttered, watching the ghost eater. It jerked when she spoke. She stepped forward, taking the shaft she carried in place of the chainsaw from earlier in both hands. The ghost eater let out a shriek and tried to dart to the side to escape her advance, but she brought the shaft around in a vicious arc; the blade that had sprung into being on the end ripped through the ghost eater's body without resistance.

* * *

><p>"This is getting more interesting by the second," Eva said, her grin wider and more bloodthirsty than ever.<p>

The ghost eater shrieked as the black miasma surrounding its body parted, revealing the horrific gash Maple's scythe had opened in its side. As it thrashed in agony, a handful of translucent blobs with glowing blue cores fell out through the open wound and plopped down to the ground, where they lay quivering. Each was perhaps twelve inches across, and they resembled the monsters known as 'slimes' from a certain popular video game franchise.

Kumiko was horrified. "What are _those_?! They're...they're horrible!" She shivered as she looked through her lens at the blobs of translucent material lying on the ground beside the ghost eater as it thrashed in agony.

Eva spared her a glance. "They're ghosts it's already eaten, of course. What else would they be?" she said as she turned her attention back to the ghost eater. "They'll recover, in time. But more importantly, Maple Birdsong...how does she have _that_?" Eva said, speaking as if to herself. "That scythe..._very_ interesting. I will have to find out," she said, her expression that of a predator watching its prey.

But that one swing of the scythe seemed to be all Maple could manage; visibly struggling, she fell first to one knee, then to her bottom on the ground. She dropped the scythe as she fell, and it vanished before it reached the ground.

"H-hey...!" Kumiko said, taking half a step forward before her fear of the ghost eater's frightening appearance stopped her.

"She should be fine," Eva said, then glanced down at the spirit world vulture pacing around in front of Kumiko, clearly disturbed as it watched Maple finally collapse to her side and abruptly vanish. "She went back to her body. You should probably do the same thing before she falls into that little cigarette lighter you call a campfire," she said idly, focusing her attention on the quivering, half-digested ghosts that still lay on the ground. The spirit world vulture left at a stumbling run before finally taking off and flying off toward the east. As for the ghost eater, it seemed uninterested in anything but staying as far away from where it had been injured as the barriers around it would permit, which was a blessing of sorts...for the ghosts it had eaten, anyway.

* * *

><p>"Come on, there isn't much time," Ran said as she staggered out into the hallway and all but collapsed against the wall.<p>

"Hey...! But what about..." Asuna said, trailing off as she looked at the figure lying on the hospital bed.

Ran waved off her concerns. "It's fine...just bring her along. She shouldn't put up much of a fight, not once she figures out what to do," she said, struggling to find the energy to keep going. She had had a long, exhausting week, and this day, the climax she had been preparing for, had nearly killed her already. Her most recent trial, taming the ghost that had taken up residence in her teacher's soul...she shivered and Nodoka had to rush to her side to keep her from falling to the floor as her knees collapsed. With nothing hurt but her pride, she reluctantly allowed the woman to steady her. Miyazaki Nodoka...now there was a strange one. Ran had rarely seen such perversion in a person with such a pure heart; the fact that the woman's wish to share the teacher with all her friends arose out of said purity made her even stranger in Ran's eyes, but she didn't voice such thoughts. She had no doubt that the woman who was currently dating Negi-sensei was well aware of her own situation. She shook off that train of thought and tried to focus on the task at hand. She sighed, wishing yet again she hadn't taken a look at the way Miyazaki Nodoka's mind worked; she had been distracted ever since. She glanced back into the hospital room and nodded when she saw Asuna helping the teacher's body off the bed. The hesitant, clumsy movements of his limbs and the uncertain way his body swayed, as if he was struggling just to maintain balance, were quite normal in his situation; ghosts tended to have trouble steering strange bodies around, after all...especially if they were so different from the ghost's original body.

Ran staggered on toward the stairway with Nodoka helping her along, cursing her own frailty the whole way.

* * *

><p><em>'What...<em>'

For the first time in a long time, she could _think_. For the first time in a long time, her mind was clear. She could _feel_; she could feel the sensation of cold air blowing down on her from the vent high up on the wall. She could feel the scratchy feeling of the hospital clothing on the body she was inhabiting.

She could feel the emptiness of the _thing_ outside the building.

She sat up on the bed, looking curiously down at the body of the guy she was using. '_How...?'_ She couldn't quite recall how she had ended up like this; everything from the moment her Max had finally given her up in California to now was little more than a jumbled mess of wildly charged emotions and confusing flashes of memory that she couldn't understand. The one thing from that time she could recall with any clarity, however, was her fear of the _thing_ outside, and the emptiness it left behind. She recalled its name, and shivered.

"Ghost Eater," she said aloud, and shivered again, wrapping her temporary arms around her temporary body.

The red headed woman standing nearby said something that sounded like a question, and Rikki looked up at her. The redhead gestured to the open doorway, and Rikki nodded. '_Okay then, let's see if I can make this body work,_' she thought to herself as she swung her borrowed legs over the edge of the bed, blushing slightly as she became abruptly aware that she was, indeed, inhabiting a male body. She shook her nervousness off and slipped off the bed...and stumbled right into the wall. She would have fallen had the other woman not rushed to support her, but she soon regained her balance enough to stand properly. The redhead spoke again, but Rikki ignored her for the moment as she tried to figure out what had gone wrong. "Is it because he's so tall...?" she said aloud. The redhead started to ask her something else, but she waved her off and stretched out her borrowed arms. Sure enough, one hand bumped into the wall before she was ready for it. She took a few hesitant steps, and then took a few more with more confidence as she worked to get used to working with a body that was a good eight inches taller than what she was used to. A moment later she looked up at the redhead and nodded as she headed for the door.

* * *

><p>Rikki blinked in the sunlight as she stepped outside the building. Those stairs...if she had thought learning to walk with a body that was too big was a hassle, learning to climb stairs with it had been a nightmare. But...her body froze as she laid eyes on the monster, the Ghost Eater, and her lips curled up in a snarl of their own accord.<p>

The Ghost Eater, the nightmare monster that had been sealed away back in the Mediterranean centuries ago...

"Bastards," she said, growling the words. How could they have been so _stupid_? Didn't they realize what they had done...? Was their need to eliminate a deserter like her even after her death so powerful that they would go so far as to unleash such a horror upon the world...? She could clearly recall the corrupted officials in the higher ranks of the Istanbul Magic Association, the ones who had sent her and her brother to infiltrate the American Division, the ones who had stubbornly clung to power and worked their hardest to keep anyone who didn't share their views down...no magic association was run by angels, but few were so corrupt. It wasn't as bad as the Soviet magic associations—the earthly standard of mage association corruption—had been forty years before, but it wasn't much better. It was no wonder the two of them had defected as soon as they hit foreign soil...

Someone exclaimed something loudly in a foreign language, and she snapped back to the present and shot a quick, sharp glance at her surroundings, taking it all in. It seemed everyone was looking at her, from the redhead, the ghost, the two mediums and the dark haired girl who had helped return her to herself to the other two girls standing a fair distance away. The short blonde one stalked over and paused in front of her, her hands on her hips as she stared coldly into Rikki's eyes.

Rikki gamely held her ground for perhaps ten seconds before she started to falter, and the blonde girl smiled. "Be careful with that body; it belongs to _me_," she said in English.

"R-right," Rikki said in the same language, one of the few she knew. "B-but first, where are we? And...and how long has _that_ been loose?" she said, gesturing at the Ghost Eater.

Eva cocked an eyebrow. "Mahora, in Japan. And as far as I can tell, 'that' has been loose for several years, probably since shortly after you died," she said.

Rikki just looked at her as dawning comprehension turned to horror. 'Several years'...how many ghosts had been devoured in that time? "Those _bastards_...!" she growled out again as she turned her gaze toward the ghost eater with an intensity that immediately drew its attention. Finally sensing her presence, it let out a roar and charged full speed straight for her until it hit the barrier with a tremendous impact. Rikki started forward until she felt a hand on her arm.

"_Wait_," someone else said sharply in English. Something in that voice sent shivers running up down Rikki's spine. "There is a proper way to do this, and rushing in headlong is a good way to get both you _and_ him killed."

Rikki turned back to see who was speaking, and was surprised to see the frail, dark haired girl from earlier. "What are you-"

The girl grinned, her eyes strangely old. "Ran's only a child; as powerful as she is, she still lacks training. I, on the other hand," she said, looking over at the Ghost Eater, "know exactly what I am doing." She turned to the two mediums and spoke in Japanese for a moment, apparently giving them instructions, as they quickly trotted off to stand on opposite sides of the barrier.

"I don't understand, what are you-"

"Just a moment," the girl replied, then spoke for a long moment with the others who were present while the Ghost Eater's efforts to get at Rikki became even more frenzied. After a moment, she turned back to her. "The barriers Ran put up won't last much longer; this will have to be quick. First," she said, holding up one finger, "the Ghost Eater can only be hurt by ghosts or powerful mediums. Luckily, we have two of each here," she said, gesturing over to the ghost and two of the others. "Second: for ghosts, the barrier is one way. Once you go in, you can't come out until the barrier falls. Once we start this, we have to see it through to the end."

"Okay," Rikki said. She took a quick glance back at the Ghost Eater as it through itself into the barrier again and again. "Anything else?" she asked.

The strange girl gave her a measuring look. "How good are you at using your element?"

Rikki stiffened. '_How can she know about that? How can she _know_?'_ she wondered, horrified. _Nobody _knew about...about 'it'.

"Don't give me that look," Kuroi Yuina said through Ono Ran's mouth. "I knew your predecessor; we were rivals. And," she added reluctantly, "though both of us would have denied it, we were also the best of friends. Have no doubt: I know the look. You are the Queen of Shadow."

A secretive look passed from one dead woman to the other, and Rikki finally nodded. "I am. I have been since I was a child. Are you going to tell the others?" she said, glancing over at the motley crowd of girls and women talking strategy nearby.

Yuina smiled. "No; it's not something they need to know. There is something _you_ need to know, however...the Elemental Kings are gathering. You know what that means. There are three others in this city now. The Queen of Water, the Queen of Light...and the King of Fire."

The last evidently had the effect she wanted on Rikki, for she made a knowing smile and turned away. "Don't forget; you have something to live for," she said over her shoulder, then made a wry grin at her joke and turned her attention back to the others.

For Rikki's part, had she still had a heart, it would have been racing. '_The King of Fire...that...how is he here? It can't be...does she mean Max?...Max is here?'_ Happy thoughts of their impending reunion were quickly spoiled, however, as she recalled some of the things he had said on his visit back home to California some time ago. He _had _loved her, but he had moved on...she was dead, after all. He probably didn't even know she was still around...

She didn't have long to ponder the disturbing revelation before Yuina turned back to her and spoke again.

"It's time; good luck."

"Th-thanks," Rikki replied, still shaken. "Wait!"

Yuina, wearing that girl Ono Ran's body, turned around yet again. "Yes? Is something wrong? There isn't much time, you know..."

"Why are you going over there? If you...if you were rivals with my predecessor, you were strong, right? Why don't you help?"

Yuina smiled with Ran's lips. "I am strong, oh yes. This girl, however," she said, gesturing down at her body. "This girl is strong as well, but her body is weak; I don't dare to take any risks with her health. It's up to you and Aisaka Sayo," she said, nodding to the other ghost, who was hovering nervously behind her. Sayo saw Rikki looking at her and bobbed her head, a worried expression on her face. Rikki nodded back. "So...good luck," Yuina said, then turned away and strolled over to where those who wouldn't be involved in the fight were watching.

Rikki and Sayo looked at each other for a long, awkward moment before Sayo floated a little closer and bobbed her head again. Rikki could tell the other ghost was just as nervous as she was about what was about to happen; Rikki was just glad the Ghost Eater seemed to have calmed down, though she could feel all its attention bearing down on her back. She saw Sayo glancing at it past her head and shivered as the terror in the other ghost's eyes. "H-hello," Rikki said in English.

"Ah...ano...'Hello'," Aisaka Sayo replied in the same language, albeit heavily accented. "You...ready for...you are? Fight?"

Rikki's face flushed in embarrassment and she quickly looked down at the feet of the young man whose body she wore, nodding. Absurdly, she noted the main difference between this ghost girl, Aisaka Sayo, and herself, was the ghost girl's lack of legs and feet, and the wispy tail...thing...that had replaced them. '_I wonder why?'_ she thought. '_Are all the ghosts around here like that...?_' She herself was fully intact, down to what had been, in life, her favorite set of clothes. She shook the thought off, mentally prepared herself, and turned to face the Ghost Eater.

* * *

><p>Eva watched from the sidelines, her expression impassive.<p>

The plan of attack was simple: While Reiko and Kazumi, two of the most skilled mediums in the region, would go to opposite sides of the Ghost Eater's cage and focus on hindering its movements, Sayo and Rikki, still wearing Negi's body, would enter the cage to do battle with it. The brief attack by Maple Birdsong, in spirit form, had not only proven that it could be hurt, but had greatly weakened it as well; the question now was whether Sayo and Rikki could destroy it before the two of them ran out of power or got eaten. Once a ghost passed into that cage, there was no coming out until the barriers had either been lifted or destroyed. Once they went in, they were in until the end. There was no way to get help at the scene in time, either; the barriers were already weakened tremendously and would fail soon.

She watched idly as Reiko and Kazumi moved to their positions and began setting out focus objects and the various other tools of the Medium's trade. Eva snorted. The best mediums didn't need those things; the smallness of a medium's toolkit was a sign of their skill and power. Those who carried large toolkits tended to be weak or amateurs...or show offs. The corner of Eva's mouth quirked upward. Sakai Reiko, while ridiculously powerful, certainly fit that last category; Asakura Kazumi, on the other hand, was well on her way to becoming a _proper_ medium. Eva knew Kazumi had the power and experience to work without all the little gewgaws and ceremony of a TV medium, though the girl herself didn't seem to realize it quite yet. '_She'll shape up eventually. Unless she dies first,_' Eva thought idly. She glanced back at the Ghost Eater, which foolishly ignored the two mediums and focused instead on the ghost inhabiting The Boy's body whose name, Eva understood, was Rikki Suvari.

Eva sneered. It seemed some foolish idiots in Istanbul had stolen the Ghost Eater's sealing vessel from its millennia-long resting place and released it. The Ghost Eater was a well known monster in certain circles; it had caused quite the fuss until it was sealed away centuries upon centuries ago. From what little she knew about it, the legends said it should have simply been a mindless eating machine; it was intriguing that it seemed so focused on the ghost that had been hanging on to The Boy for the past few years, but she didn't know enough about the monster to know if that was normal behavior for it or not, something she intended to rectify soon. Eva knew that if she was in the Ghost Eater's position, she would have gone after the strongest ghost first, which was without a doubt Aisaka Sayo...this obsessive focus on one ghost in particular from what was most likely an unthinking bundle of instincts and hunger simply didn't make sense.

She glanced around at the others watching the scene with her, her former classmate Miyazaki Nodoka and two of her current classmates Mori Kumiko and Ono Ran, neither of whom seemed to be of much use at the moment, and, of course, Chachamaru and her little sister Rally. Kagurazaka Asuna was still inside the building, as her Magic Cancel ability had a high chance of interfering with the barriers currently keeping the Ghost Eater in check. Miyazaki Nodoka had only moments ago called a representative from the church's exorcism and spirit squad as a backup measure in case something went wrong and both ghosts were devoured; even now Eva spotted Sister Shakti and two others from the church approaching the field at a run. Eva yawned and glared up at the sun. "It's hot today," she said idly. Chachamaru promptly produced a parasol and held it over Eva's head.

"That's a little better."

* * *

><p>Rikki shivered when the short blonde girl put up a second barrier around the field to keep other humans out. No matter how she looked, the girl was <em>strong<em>. To tell the truth, up to that point Rikki had thought she was just a know-it-all sort of half-genius mage; she hadn't had any clue the girl actually held that level of power or the skill to make use of it so quickly and easily.

She shook it off; this was no time to be worrying about something like that...this was a matter of life and death. In a manner of speaking, of course. She shivered again and walked up to stand in front of the barrier with the Ghost Eater looking down at her and shifting back and forth in what she thought was surely anticipation.

There was no telling how many ghosts it had eaten since it was released. A quick glance over to the side gave her a good look at the pile of half-digested ghosts, and what could very easily happen to both her and the friendly ghost girl who had disappeared from the Ghost Eater's sight.

Rikki took a few awkward, shuffling steps to the side, wondering if she could slip past the Ghost Eater into the barrier so she could fight, but it moved along on the other side of the barrier, easily keeping pace. '_I'll have to be careful once I go in,_' she thought nervously. _'There's no way I'll outrun it in this body...' _She bit her lip nervously and waited.

She didn't have to wait long.

"Sayo Beeeaaaam!"

The orange beam of energy that blasted into the Ghost Eater from behind shoved it hard into the barrier, which bulged out visibly and began to flicker. Rikki couldn't see immediately what damage Sayo's surprise attack might have done, but the Ghost Eater let out a horrifying roar as it lurched back away from the barrier. It was only then that it turned its back to Rikki and she saw what Sayo had accomplished with her surprise attack: the miasma around the rear of the Ghost Eater's bulk had been blown away to reveal the blackened, ephemeral surface of its skin, from which a huge chunk had been blasted. Even as she watched, the edges of the wound began trying to close.

There was no time to stand around watching.

Rikki scrambled through the barrier, let out a nervous breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, and shook her head to clear it. '_Come on Rikki! This is no time to hesitate!' _She brought her right arm up and held it straight above her head, clenched her eyes shut, and focused on gathering power. It was strange, she thought; she hadn't quite known what to expect and had half-expected that it wouldn't even work, but something about the body she was wearing made gathering shadow easy...almost as easy as it had been back when she was still alive. She didn't know much about the young man whose body she was borrowing, but her shadow magic suited him perfectly; the only way it could have been better would have been if she had had her old body back. She shook her head to clear it and whipped her hand toward the Ghost Eater, flinging a wave of shadow magic at it. She frowned as the wave hit the Ghost Eater and continued on through it; it had little effect other than to make the Ghost Eater stop and shake its bulk, like a wet dog. Still, the attack distracted it enough to allow Sayo to blast it again, this time from the front. It let out a roar that shook Rikki down to her bones and began lashing out with its tentacles in an attempt to grab Sayo.

Rikki looked down at her hands. Her shadow elemental magic didn't seem to work well against the Ghost Eater...perfectly understandable, when she took the time to think about it. Ghosts and spirits and their relatives were highly resistant to magic. Granted, shadow magic was more effective, but that wasn't really saying much. She frowned as she looked back up at the Ghost Eater, which was on the verge of trapping Sayo against the heavily weakened barrier. Rikki half ran, half stumbled closer and shot another blast of shadow magic at the Ghost Eater. Its tentacles flailed in the air as it stopped to shake itself off again, and Sayo darted away out of its reach before it could recover.

"Okay, I can work with this," Rikki said to herself. Sayo blasted the Ghost Eater again and, judging by the particularly loud roar it let out, managed to really hurt it. Rikki nodded to herself, wishing, not for the first time since awakening, that she could speak the local language. '_Good job Sayo, keep going!'_ she thought as she heaved another elemental attack at the Ghost Eater. Finally seeming to remember who it had hunted across two thirds of the world, it turned its attention away from Sayo and started toward her.

Rikki turned to run. While she didn't _think_ it could do anything to her while she was in Negi's body, she didn't want to take any chances. She made it perhaps ten feet before she tripped over her awkward, borrowed feet and hit the ground so hard it _had_ to hurt, even though she couldn't feel much of anything from the body she was using. She mumbled thanks for the fact that she couldn't feel the damage as she scrambled back to her feet and risked a quick look back. The Ghost Eater seemed to have lost the vast majority of the speed and agility it had shown before the fight started; she supposed that was the work of the two mediums standing outside the barriers. She wished she had caught their names, but as she wasn't familiar with the language, Japanese names when spoken as part of a sentence had a tendency to merge into the sounds around them. Sayo shouted at her, a hint of panic in her voice, and Rikki took off again in a stumbling run for the far end of the field while the Ghost Eater lumbered along behind, far too close for comfort. Rikki risked another attack with shadow magic, but just as before it had little effect on the Ghost Eater, and blasted through the barrier on the far side, tearing a hole in it.

"Dammit," she muttered in English as she looked around the area enclosed by the barrier. '_Its a good thing whoever put this together thought to give us plenty of space to move around in,'_ she thought. At no point inside the barrier could the Ghost Eater, large as it was, force her or Sayo into a corner. The only way it could get close would be if one of them got caught against the barrier itself.

Sayo blasted the Ghost Eater again from behind and it heaved itself upright, letting out a roar as it swung its body around, enraged. Sayo darted off to the side before it could catch sight of her, and its attention fell on the medium standing just outside the barrier. Rikki had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach as one simple fact rang out in her mind, one of the most basic of rules when dealing with ghosts or spirits: If you can see ghosts, _ghosts can see you_.

The woman standing there looked to be in her early twenties with long red hair tied up behind her head so it stuck out. From what Rikki could see, her eyes were closed; she was completely focused on suppressing the Ghost Eater's power. She started to scream a warning, but it was too late.

The Ghost Eater charged headlong into the barrier and _through _it, shattering the whole thing, and swatted the red head with a tentacle. The woman let out a breathless scream and crumpled to the ground on the spot, whether unconscious or dead Rikki didn't know. Sayo let out a horrified scream and flew as fast as she could over to the fallen medium, but the Ghost Eater was already there.

"Sayo...!" Rikki screamed as she broke into a run.

She tripped again and fell flat on her face and quickly scrambled back to her feet, cursing her uselessness in the young man's body. She was dimly aware of screams and blasts of magic flying through the air, all aimed at the Ghost Eater, but it ignored everything and neatly speared Sayo out of the air with a single tentacle.

"No!" Rikki screamed as she drew all the raw shadow elemental power she could and launched it at the Ghost Eater, too late. She stumbled to a stop, watching in horror as the Ghost Eater swiftly did its work, and then turned its attention toward her.

At that moment, the other medium ran past her, cursing and screaming at the Ghost Eater, but just like before, it swatted her with a tentacle mid run and she collapsed as if the life had been sucked out of her.

"No...no...!" Rikki said, numb with horror. The Ghost Eater again turned its attention toward her. She was dimly aware that somewhere off to the side, a girl was screaming while someone else kept launching magic spells at the Ghost Eater, all of which went straight through it with no effect.

Rikki stumbled backward as the Ghost Eater approached, and tripped yet again. She scooted backwards, desperately trying to gather enough shadow elemental power to force it to back off, but the body she was wearing suddenly convulsed and fell onto its side, curling up and clutching at its stomach of its own accord. It coughed, and blood flew from its mouth. Rikki looked, wide eyed, at the splatter of blood on the ground right in front of her borrowed face and then up at the Ghost Eater as it approached. She didn't want to think about what was about to happen to her, and maybe to the body she was wearing, too. She had seen what happened to Sayo... She tried again to gather more shadow power, but the young man's body convulsed again, more strongly this time, and she cried out helplessly. She dragged herself up to her borrowed hands and knees and finally up to her feet, and stumbled away from the Ghost Eater, the young man's body swaying dangerously. The fastest she could move was at a pace easily matched by a shuffling ninety-year-old with arthritis. The body she was wearing was in bad shape, and the Ghost Eater was bearing down on her, speeding up now that the two mediums were no longer holding it back.

Rikki's gaze darted from one medium to the other; both now had people tending to them, but no one was coming to help her. The blue haired woman who had been casting spells earlier had stopped, and was now watching the scene in horror, her hands covering the lower half of her face. Rikki thought suddenly, absurdly, that the girl was really quite pretty. Then something jolted her borrowed body and she looked down.

A long, slender tentacle was protruding through her chest. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out and she felt the body she had borrowed falling away as she was lifted up high into the air. She grabbed the tentacle with both hands and pulled, trying to dislodge it, but it was no good. The end of the tentacle curled back toward her and poked at her left hand. She felt a horrible sucking sensation and she tried to scream, but her hand was already inside and she looked back at the others, desperately trying to deny what was happening to her. The only one watching her was the short blonde girl from before, the one who had surprised her with her power and skill. The blonde was just standing there stiffly, watching, with her fists clenched as Rikki was slowly sucked up into the tentacle.

The Ghost Eater turned, and the rest of the battlefield was again brought into Rikki's line of sight. The two mediums had been carried out of the way, and the pretty spellcaster and the redheaded swordswoman from before were carrying the young man's body away from the Ghost Eater. Again, no one wanted to look up at her but the three people from the church, two of which were running off to the sides in a repeat of what the two mediums had done earlier to prepare for the lost battle that had just taken place. The head nun raised a crucifix and began speaking, but suddenly Rikki's vision was covered by a translucent purple veil, and she realized that her head had just been sucked in. She opened her mouth to scream.

* * *

><p>Eva watched the disaster unfold, her supercharged senses taking in every little detail, and completely unable to do anything about it.<p>

The way it had almost swatted Asakura Kazumi's soul out of her body.

The way it _had_ swatted Sakai Reiko's soul out of hers, confirming something Eva had suspected for some time.

The blood spurting from The Boy's mouth when the strange ghost that had been attached to him tried to use her elemental magic one time too many, and the way The Boy's body had lain there until the ghost dragged it upright by sheer willpower.

The fear on Aisaka Sayo's face as the Ghost Eater performed the act it was famous for.

The look on the other ghost's face when it realized the situation was falling apart and the way their eyes had met across that expanse of space before the ghost's head was sucked into the tentacle.

She watched, engraving every little detail of the scene into her memory. This battle was a failure, a failure she blamed entirely on herself. Two ghosts had lost their lives, three of her allies were on the verge of losing theirs, and the legendary monster known as the Ghost Eater was free. Sure, that nun from the church was trying to do something about the last part, but Eva had her doubts about Sister Shakti's effectiveness in such a situation. Eva's teeth clenched more tightly. '_Again, I discover that I have become complacent,_' she thought bitterly. Somehow, the sound of her classmate Mori Kumiko vomiting into the bushes behind her made for a fitting end to the battle. Unless someone else who could deal physical damage to ghosts suddenly showed up, the battle was indeed over. Eva waited a long moment, just in case, but no one came; no hero showed up to save the day. Instead, the Ghost Eater continued sucking up the strange ghost, taking its time as it ambled across the field toward the southwest.

The Ghost Eater had almost completely sucked up the other ghost when it suddenly froze in place, the suction apparently stopped. It swung its miasma-cloaked head back and forth in apparent confusion, and shuddered. A moment later, it whirled around as if to try and catch something behind it, but there was nothing there.

Eva watched the scene closely, her slightly raised eyebrow was the only outward sign of her surprise. Her lip abruptly curled and she smirked as she realized what was happening.

The Ghost Eater shook its head back and forth, and then its whole body jerked. It let out a startled roar, its tentacles flailing, and reared up just as its right side exploded outward. Eva grinned, showing far too many teeth.

"I knew it."

* * *

><p>Sayo glided out of the severely wounded Ghost Eater and looked around in a daze. '<em>What happened...? Is Kazumi okay? Reiko...?'<em> "Kazumi-san?" she called out, looking around. "Reiko-san?" She caught sight of Sister Shakti, Misora-san's superior from the local branch of The Church, gaping at her, her eyes bugging out. The nun quickly shook off her surprise, however, and pointed at something behind Sayo.

Sayo turned around, raised her right hand, palm out, and blasted the Ghost Eater's head off its body as it lunged at her.

"You..you big meanie!" she shouted at it as its headless body lurched backward and turned, falling onto its wounded side as its tentacles flailed. She spotted the tentacle that was in the process of sucking up the strange ghost that had attached itself to Negi-kun, and darted toward it. Gathering power in her right hand, she sliced through the tentacle a hand's breadth from where it sprouted out of the Ghost Eater's miasma-swathed body and caught it as it fell. It was the work of seconds to free the other ghost from the confines of the tentacle and move her unresponsive form out of the way. That done, she turned her attention back to the Ghost Eater as it stumbled around the field. It had eaten her, tried to eat that other ghost, and had no doubt eaten millions of ghosts before it even made its way to Mahora. But worst of all...

Worst of all, it had hurt Kazumi and Reiko!

Sayo bit her lip, puffed up her cheeks, and charged.

The Ghost Eater, headless now, down one tentacle, and with a huge hole blown in its side, didn't even seen to be aware of her presence until she blasted its front half again. It's huge body swiveled toward her, but Sayo was already moving, gathering the power she would need for what she planned to do next.

The Ghost Eater turned toward her. It didn't stand a chance.

Sayo darted in, orange power glowing around her, and planted both hands through the swirling black miasma onto the front of the Ghost Eater's body. "Apocalypse Beeeeaaam!"

The power transferred from her body to that of the Ghost Eater and, for a long, long moment, nothing happened.

The following spirit-world explosion could be seen for miles all around.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: How was that? Next up will be some side stories for a few weeks, and then the final chapters of Book 2 will wind down and we can go on to Book 3, in which people go to the Magic World to face Fate and try to save Ako from the Children of Gilgamesh, among other things._


	25. Ch 22 The New Batch

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 22: The New Batch**

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><p><em>Tuesday, July 14th, Midday<em>

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><p>"Haah," Student Number 5, Rosemary Dean, heaved a sigh as she waited for class to end. '<em>Nitta-sensei is so <em>boring_,' _she thought as she stared blankly down at the notes she had been trying to take. She couldn't get much sense out of them; an effect, she had no doubt, of Nitta-sensei's droning voice. She could barely understand him...! She frowned. Perhaps it was time to refresh the heavy-duty instant translation spell she had used since arriving in Japan...? She hadn't had the time or inclination to learn Japanese properly, so she had been relying on the spell her friend Jackie back in the States had taught her, but... She took a chance to glance around at some of her classmates, but everyone else seemed to be able to keep up just fine. The girl in front of her, Abe Aiko, was diligently taking notes just like always, and even Urashima Taro, over in the back corner by the windows, was taking notes properly. A glance at the other side of the room showed that she wasn't totally alone in her boredom, however: her classmate Takahashi Shizuko was staring blankly across the room at the windows, her pencil held upright a few inches above her notebook while she daydreamed.

'_Or whatever it is she does when she's looking out the window,'_ Rosemary thought to herself. Shizuko had a bad habit of drifting off into her own little world from time to time, and a lot of the other girls thought she was a total ditz because of it. Rosemary thought Shizuko was pretty cool though, she stood up for others and wasn't afraid of anything. She was also very pretty; even other girls thought so. While some of the other girls had their own followings among other students, only Shizuko had an actual fan club...Rosemary had just about laughed her head off when she first saw those younger girls trailing after Shizuko while trying—and failing miserably—to hide. Shizuko seemed to prefer to pretend they weren't there.

Rosemary's attention drifted over to some of the students who sat closer to her until her gaze locked on to her classmate Mochizuki Kagami. Rosemary thought Kagami was really pretty too, if a different sort of pretty from Shizuko. Where Shizuko could almost be called 'elegant' when she took the time to actually pay attention to what she was doing, Kagami was more along the lines of 'she's gonna be really hot when she grows up' though, to tell the truth, Rosemary thought Kagami was pretty good looking already. '_Plus she's got that whole tsun-tsun thing going on that's so popular right now,'_ she thought. Kagami glanced up at her with a sort of bored glare and cocked an eyebrow as if to say 'What do YOU want?' Rosemary gave her a thumbs up and turned her attention back to the clock above the chalkboard.

'_Alright, almost there, just three more minutes. You can make it! Next is P.E., and that's way better than sitting at a desk!'_

Not only was P.E. way better than sitting at a desk, it was also a good chance for her to loosen up. Rosemary had always been an active girl; all this sitting around and taking notes was starting to drive her crazy, especially with summer vacation so close. "Come on Rosemary, just another week or two..." she muttered to herself. The last thirty seconds of class seemed to stretch on interminably for Rosemary, but it came to an end soon enough and she was out the door almost as soon as the class rep finished the usual end-of-class ritual.

* * *

><p>"Okay, today you'll run laps for ten minutes and, since you all complained so much about playing soccer last week, you'll break up into two teams and play baseball instead," Max Linell, the six-foot-six American with a face that made children cry and who had served as a P.E. teacher for the girls' middle school for the past six years, said, glaring at the chorus of groans that arose in response to his announcement.<p>

"You'd better listen up!" his assistant coach, Sasaki Makie, said as she propped Max's infamous wooden sword up on her shoulder. "We're doing this out of the kindness of our hearts! You girls wouldn't like it if he said you were playing rugby, would you?" she asked, looking around, visibly struggling to keep a serious expression on her face.

"Oh, and one more thing," Max said, quieting the group of complaining girls with a glare. "Those of you whose names Sasaki-sensei is about to call, come to my office after school." He paused to sweep a steely glare over the class. "Don't even _think _about skipping out."

Rosemary smirked at the way the assistant coach's face lit up at Max's use of 'Sasaki-sensei'. From what Rosemary could see, the woman seemed to really love her job... '_Good for her,'_ Rosemary thought idly as she glanced over at the baseball field. It had been quite a while since she last played baseball...what, three, four years? She frowned as she tried to recall how old she had been when she was put into her grandmother's care.

"Okay! Pay attention in case I call your name!" Sasaki-sensei said, her cute voice standing out in stark contrast to the gargle-with-gravel-and-broken-glass harshness of the other teacher's. "Rosemary Dean!"

Rosemary jerked back to reality upon hearing her name called and looked around frantically. "Ah...what? What's going on?" she whispered to the girl standing next to her, a girl from a different class whose name she didn't know.

The girl gave her a condescending look. "You're to report to Rehnehru-sensei's office after school today," she said, looking at Rosemary as if she was an idiot for asking.

Rosemary cocked an eyebrow at the other girl's rudeness. "Oh, thanks. And just for reference, it's pronounced 'Linell'. That's not so hard, is it?" she asked, voice dripping with sweetness. She smirked at the rude girl for a brief moment before turning her attention back to the two teachers.

"Suzuki Keiko!"

Rosemary's eyes widened. Keiko was in trouble? Rosemary was used to being in trouble; she could think of half a dozen things that might get her called to the teacher's office just within the past week, but Suzuki Keiko, probably the most well behaved student in the class...? No way...!

"Hayashi Fujiko! Sophie Rivers!" Sasaki-sensei continued on. Rosemary could hardly believe her ears, and judging by the startled looks on the faces of some of the others, neither could they. "Kara Stride! Endo Haru!"

'_Oh wow...I wonder what happened? Does it have something to do with the way they shut the dorm down for a few hours the other day...?_' Rosemary wondered. None of the 'usual suspects' but her had been called...maybe they were looking for witnesses? But in that case, why call everybody out in such a public way? She realized Sasaki-sensei wasn't finished yet.

"Miyoshi Youko!" Sasaki Makie said, grinning at the girl. "And Mori Kumiko! All of you please hurry to Max-kun—I mean Linell-sensei's office after school! That is all!"

Rosemary was left by herself as the other girls broke up into small groups, talking nervously among themselves until Hayashi Fujiko, the girl she had befriended at the festival when the two of them saved Yagi Ryoko, a cat youkai girl, from a couple of fox youkai, drifted over.

"What do you think is happening?" Fujiko asked nervously. Her gaze darted toward the two P.E. teachers and then back to the track as they started running their laps.

"I don't know," Rosemary answered. They trotted along in silence for a moment. "Do you think it's..._that_?" she asked.

Fujiko was quiet for a moment. "You mean...at the festival? With Ryoko-chan?"

"Yeah," Rosemary said. They trotted along quietly for a moment.

"Surely not," Fujiko said, a hint of panic in her voice. "How would they know?"

"I dunno," Rosemary replied. "Maybe somebody saw us."

"H-how do you know it's _that_? Maybe you're wrong...!" Fujiko said.

Rosemary let the obvious doubt in the other girl's voice speak for itself as they rounded the far end of the track from where they had started. A moment later, she spoke again. "Well, I can think of quite a few things _I _could get in trouble for, but _you_? You're squeaky clean, 'Fu-chan'," she said, using Ryoko's nickname for Fujiko. She grinned at her friend to show she didn't mean any offense.

"But..." Fujiko paused, trying to gather her thoughts. "But what about the others? Keiko-san and Kumiko-san? They never get in trouble."

"I dunno," Rosemary said. "Keiko's been hanging around with Youko lately, and so has Haru." She left it at that; the mention of Miyoshi Youko's name in connection to someone getting in trouble spoke volumes. "She probably pulled some massive prank. Remember how the dorms were shut down for a while the other day?"

Fujiko frowned and shook her head. "Huh...not really. I...huh. That's weird."

"What is?" Rosemary asked as they finished their first lap and started on their second.

"I can't remember much of _anything_ from the other day," Fujiko said, clearly disturbed at the revelation. "I mean...I remember walking out of the school building, but...it seems like I can't remember what happened between then and waking up the next morning..."

Rosemary gave the other girl a confused look. '_So...what, amnesia? Ha! Not likely. More like some kind of memory erasing magic. But why?' "_You really don't remember _anything_?" she asked.

"No!" Fujiko replied fearfully. "I-it's all...it's all _empty_! What do I do? What do I _do_?" she asked, looking at Rosemary desperately.

Rosemary, for her part, was taken aback at the fear and confusion coming through in Fujiko's voice. The girl sounded _terrified_.

While Fujiko started to panic, another girl trotted along nearby, lost in thought.

* * *

><p>'<em>Rosemary-san, Youko-san, maybe Sophie-san...I don't think the others would do anything wrong,'<em> she thought to herself, frowning. Even the thought of Sophie Rivers doing something worth getting called to the teachers' office was a stretch; sure, she had made some mistakes when she first arrived, but she had quickly adapted to Japanese society and hadn't had any problems since. So that left...what? Nothing she could see.

Watanabe Miyako continued along, rounding the far end of the track. '_I wonder why they want to see Kara?'_ she thought. She wasn't aware of anything Kara had done wrong either, but sometimes other people did bad things because they were interested in Kara. There had been the incident with the hidden camera in the dressing room, for instance, and that time just a few days after the festival when that guy was creeping around the dorm at night...

Miyako shivered and quickly changed her train of thought to one a little more palatable. '_Is it something to do with what happened at the dorm the other day?'_ She hadn't seen what happened of course, she had gone out into the city to pick up a few things. When she had gotten near the dorm, however, the main path had been blocked off and one of the teachers, Seruhiko-sensei, had been standing there by the wood barrier, speaking into his cell phone. Miyako had taken a side path not many people knew about and come around through the woods to the dorm from behind just in time to hear someone playing some beautiful music _very _loudly, quickly followed by an explosion, and then...nothing. That was fairly normal for Mahora, so she had just slipped into the building through an open window and gone on up to her room. She hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary, but...she shrugged. Whatever that mysterious music and explosion had been, it had certainly been disruptive. Still, she doubted most of those who had been called would be involved in something like that. The only other recent notable incident she was aware of would be what had happened between Ayumi, Kara, Caro, and Shizuko, and as far as she could tell, none of the teachers seemed to be aware of it, and none of the participants seemed willing to talk about it, not to mention the fact that three of the participants hadn't even been called. Ayumi hadn't mentioned a word about it since she returned to school, either...Miyako supposed it wasn't a very pleasant memory for the other girl, and she still hadn't come back to band practice since Kara kicked her out of the band for her actions.

Miyako sighed.

Why did everyone have to be so...so..._stubborn_? Even though Ayumi seemed to be feeling much better lately and had even started going back to class again, she still refused to apologize and ask Kara to let her back into the band...! Miyako liked Ayumi and Kara and Kai, they all fit together! Band practice without Ayumi just wasn't fun anymore...sure, Ayumi was sarcastic all the time and could be hard to get along with, but-

"Hey, Miyako."

Miyako looked back behind and quickly spotted Kara jogging to catch up with her. She smiled at the other girl and slowed her pace until Kara caught up. The two of them jogged along side by side in silence for a long moment.

"Hey, Miyako," Kara said again hesitantly.

Miyako glanced over at her, curious as to what Kara wanted to say. She focused on the running track again when Kara didn't finish her question. A thought flitted through her head, and Miyako grinned.

"Ayumi's doing better," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if to comment on the weather. She saw Kara seem to relax a little by the corner of her eye. Kara was strange, in Miyako's opinion; even though she sat right in front of Ayumi in class, she didn't seem to have the nerve to turn around and ask her how her day was or anything! "She's even trying to do some of the work she missed when she...wasn't feeling well." Miyako continued along as the two of them fell quiet again. She glanced over at her friend after a moment and smiled. "Want me to come along with you when you go to Max-sensei's office after school?"

Kara looked over at her, clearly embarrassed but happy that Miyako seemed to understand. "Will you?"

"Sure!" Miyako said, smiling back at her.

* * *

><p>Thoughts of Kara and the other girls' mysterious meeting to come with the P.E. teacher after school quickly fled Miyako's mind as everyone went back to the classroom and the History teacher came in. Miyako loved history; it was her favorite subject next to math. She loved to watch the constant evolution of inter-country communication as it changed over time; it was just <em>awesome<em>. In particular she was fascinated by the complex interaction between countries during times of war, when boundaries shifted constantly and alliances formed and changed and dissolved in a matter of days, the chain of events often set off by the smallest of coincidences or even something as minor as a perceived slight on the part of one leader by another. Everything about it, from the top down, was fascinating to her in a way she just couldn't get anyone else to understand, especially other girls her age. It had taken her a while to figure out that other people had trouble looking at it the way she did; for whatever reason, they tended to focus on the details of _what_ had happened rather than _why _and _how_, not to mention how each event affected things around it. Some of the teachers seemed to understand her love of history a little, but Miyako hadn't found anyone she could really talk to about it. She didn't worry about it much, however; some of her friends were into things she didn't understand either.

Miyako sighed when the history teacher left and the last teacher of the day entered the room. While she was good at it, she had always found Home Economics to be incredibly dull...

* * *

><p>With the school day finally over, Miyako heaved a sigh of relief as she stood up from her desk. '<em>Now, we can finally get to the bottom of this!'<em> she thought to herself as Kara hesitantly walked up to her.

"Hello, Miyako."

"Hello, Kara-san," Miyako said, smiling at the other girl. "Are you ready?"

Kara reluctantly nodded and, much to Miyako's surprise, turned to the girl who sat beside Miyako, Sophie Rivers, who had also been told to come to the P.E. teacher's office after school. "Hey...do you know what this is about?" she asked.

Sophie gave her a long, measuring look as if trying to figure out what Kara's angle was, but shook her head after a moment. "I don't know," she said softly as she looked back down at where her bookbag still sat on top of the desk. "The only thing I can think of is-" Sophie cut herself off and shook her head.

"What is it?" Miyako asked, eager for the chance to speak with Sophie. Miyako was a friendly (if shy) girl; nevertheless, she had never managed to get Sophie to say more than a few words...this was one of the longest conversations she had ever seen the girl have.

"You shouldn't be late."

Miyako and Kara turned to see who had spoken, and found the class rep, Nakamura Sachiko, standing behind them, with the class bully, Urashima Taro, standing beside her.

Kara nodded hesitantly, and Miyako glanced back at Sophie to see the other girl looking away, as if she felt uncomfortable with the situation.

"Don't worry about it too much, it's not like it's anything bad," Urashima Taro said, much to Miyako's surprise. She turned her attention back to Taro, but the girl just met her gaze evenly for a moment before tapping the class rep's shoulder. "C'mon Sachiko, let's get going."

Miyako watched the two of them head for the door, quickly joined by Possum Cade and Mochizuki Kagami. Another group quickly followed them, this one consisting of Abe Aiko, Yamamoto Kimi, Sato Gin, Mako Sylvester and, strangely enough, Miyako's bandmate Kondo Kai, who turned to grin at Kara before exiting the room.

With so much of the class gone, the remainder of the students seemed to take that as a signal to finish up the usual after school gossip session a little early, and soon only Miyako and those who had been called to the P.E. teacher's office remained, looking at each other nervously.

"S-so..." Hayashi Fujiko said, clearly nervous. Miyako rather liked Fujiko; the girl had a strong sense of justice, and always tried to do what was right. She didn't have anywhere near the ability with mathematics that Miyako had, but then again, few people her age did.

"So..." Rosemary said thoughtfully as she stood next to Fujiko. They looked at each other and Fujiko made a weak grin. Miyako was a little wary of her roommate Rosemary Dean. The transfer student from America was a notorious prankster, and had even pulled a couple minor pranks on Miyako herself, though it didn't seem to have been done in a mean-spirited manner.

"So what is this about? Does anyone know?" Endo Haru said. Mori Kumiko, who stood nearby, looked around nervously. Miyako and Haru got along pretty well; they weren't close, but Miyako felt like she could trust the other girl. Miyako rarely spoke with Mori Kumiko, but she had always had the impression that Kumiko was a quiet, hardworking girl, and while Kumiko seemed a little standoffish at first, once Miyako had gotten to know her, she understood how nice Kumiko really was.

"I've got a pretty good idea, but it would spoil the surprise if I told you," Miyoshi Youko said. If Miyako didn't feel comfortable around Rosemary, she didn't trust Miyoshi Youko at all. Youko had a strangely foxlike personality, and Miyako couldn't shake the feeling that the white haired girl was sizing her up any time they were in the same room. Something about the way Youko looked at her was disturbing, as if she was looking at a potential victim. It was _quite _disturbing. Suzuki Keiko, however, was someone Miyako got along with _very_ well. The two of them had a lot in common, such as a mutual love for mathematics, and, though Miyako tended more toward the arts and Keiko leaned more toward the sciences, the two of them had quite the rapport when working on the same task.

What followed was a long moment in which most of those who had been called upon in P.E. looked at each other, trying to discover whatever it was that linked them together. Miyako, for her part, didn't have a clue. Most of those who were called upon had little in common...she just couldn't figure it out.

"We should go." Miyako nearly jumped when Ono Ran suddenly spoke up from behind her. Miyako didn't know _what _to think about the girl. She had never had much interaction with the dark haired girl but, unlike most of the rest of the class, had never thought of her as 'spooky'. She had sort of liked her, in fact...up until the day she slapped Negi-sensei in the face. After that, Miyako hadn't had a clue what to think. Was Ono Ran merely a delinquent? Did she have some sort of medical thing that made her do strange things? Miyako just didn't know.

"Eh, you're probably right," Youko said as she stretched her arms up above her head to work the kinks out of her back; she let out a yawn seconds later. Miyako frowned at her; she had seen Youko sleeping with her head on her desk shortly before class ended.

Miyako turned her attention back to her friend Kara while the others spoke their agreement with Youko. Kara...Kara was beautiful and awkward and fun to be around. Miyako liked being around the girl; while some of the others were jealous of Kara's more adult looks, especially now that she had started wearing those glasses, Miyako had never had a problem with her. Kara was nice once she got to know someone. It was funny, Miyako thought; she had seen through Kara's standoffish facade the first time she met her, and they had gotten along wonderfully ever since.

"Do you still want me to come with you?" Miyako asked quietly while the others shuffled out into the hallway. She knew that, awkward as Kara was, she sometimes talked to Rosemary and Youko, but none of them had never been close and most of the others in question rarely had any reason to speak to Kara at all. Kara would probably be all alone in the group if Miyako wasn't there.

Kara stood at the table for a long moment, biting her lip as she looked down at her bookbag. "...yeah," she finally said, not looking up.

Miyako noted that Kara's cheeks had gone a little red in embarrassment at her admission. '_Ah, how cute,' _she thought. "Okay. We should go now though, so we don't get left behind," she said, looking up at the door. Miyako's pleasant smile wilted a little when she saw Ono Ran standing in the doorway looking back at the two of them, but the spooky girl turned away a second or two later and joined the others in the hallway, leaving Miyako and Kara alone in the classroom.

"Yeah, let's go," Kara said.

Miyako smiled at her. "Okay!"

* * *

><p>The trip to the P.E. coach's office in the New Gym wasn't very far, but Miyako found it interesting to watch the growing fear on the faces of most of the other girls as the group drew closer. While she technically wasn't involved, she couldn't help but get caught up in the slowly building sensation of dread that quickly took over the group. While none of them could figure out what they might have done wrong to get in trouble for, they were all nervous nonetheless.<p>

From the door they took to enter the New Gym, it was only a short walk to the P.E. teacher's office, where Sasaki-sensei was waiting outside. She waved excitedly when she spotted the girls entering the gym and trotted over. She took a moment to look them over; Miyako supposed that was to make sure nobody tried to skip the meeting.

Sasaki-sensei's expression turned regretful when the group approached, however. "I'm sorry Miyako-chan, but you can't come in this time," she said, as if being called to the P.E. teacher's office was supposed to be a treat.

Miyako cocked her head to the side, a move mirrored by Sasaki-sensei. "Okay...I understand; I was just trying to support my friends," she said.

At that moment, the door opened and the P.E. teacher, Scary Max-sensei, stepped half out of his office and sent a withering glare at the offending group of girls before his gaze locked on to Miyako; she couldn't help but take half a step back as the weight of his attention fell on her. He looked over at his pink-haired assistant coach, and she held up her hands in a placating manner.

"It's taken care of," she said.

"Okay," the P.E. teacher said, then turned his attention back to everyone else. "The rest of you, get in here. _Now_." He went back into his office, leaving the door open.

Everyone looked at each other nervously. Miyako couldn't help but notice just how nervous Kara really was. "Is...is something wrong?" she whispered to her friend as she took her hand.

Kara looked around furtively. "I-I don't know. I...I mean, something happened the other day, but...but I don't think..."

"You didn't do anything bad, right?" Miyako asked gently, taking Kara's other hand. "You're not a bad person, you're my friend," she said simply, giving Kara's hands a squeeze. "I'll be waiting for you back at the dorm, okay? Come back as soon as you can!"

Kara nodded, looking embarrassed.

"C'mon, why don't you two get a room already?"

Kara jerked her hands away and turned to face away from the other girls, several of whom were snickering at the remark.

Miyako glared at Rosemary Dean, the American transfer student who was grinning at her. "That was mean-"

"Oh come off it, Miyako-chan," Rosemary said. She walked over to Kara and slung an arm around her neck. "What's wrong with a little humor while waiting for the firing squad, huh?" Kara tried to squirm away, but her heart wasn't in it and she let Rosemary steer her toward the open doorway the other girls were already moving through.

"Kara-san..." Miyako said, troubled. Kara wasn't strong, not like _she_ was. Kara might always pretend to be cold and distant, but Miyako knew that was just a front; Kara was more sensitive than any of them...she was just trying to protect herself from getting hurt.

"...It's alright," Kara mumbled as she shook Rosemary off and went through the door.

"Don't worry about a thing, Miyako-chan," Sasaki-sensei said when the other girls were all inside. "Just go back to the dorm and finish your homework, and everybody will be back before you know it!" She went through the doorway and pulled the door shut behind her. A few seconds later, the door opened again and the assistant P.E. teacher poked her head back out in the hallway. "And no peeking!" She waited until Miyako nodded, then smiled pleasantly at her and went back into the office.

Miyako heaved a sigh. The situation was quite troubling... She _really_ didn't want to go back to her dorm room now. It was a nice day outside though, if a little hot...perhaps she could spend some time on one of the benches outside...?

* * *

><p>"Hey, is it true? Is he really going to let them come too?" someone said.<p>

Miyako jerked awake and looked around. She was sitting on one of the stone benches by the pathway that led to the New Gym. '_I must have dozed off after I left the gym,' _she thought as she stretched and let out a yawn. The air was nice and warm while the shade of the tree she was under kept the sun off. She had been under a lot of stress lately, worrying about her friends...she hadn't had a good night's sleep in _weeks. _It was no wonder she had fallen asleep. A quick glance at her cell phone told her a little more than an hour had passed since she had accompanied Kara to the New Gym. '_I wonder if they're still in there...?_' she thought as she looked at the building. She quickly shook her head; if they had been released, Kara would have found her on the bench and woke her up. But what was taking them so long...?

"I know...I'm kind of nervous about it," someone said nearby.

Miyako looked around, curious as to who was speaking. It sounded like her class's Abe Aiko, but...

"I wonder...I know about Miyoshi-san and Endo-san, but..." The sound of the girl's voice was drowned out by the sound of the wind rustling the bushes and trees between them.

And, if Miyako wasn't mistaken, that sounded like her class's Yamamoto Kimi, Aiko's best friend. From what Miyako could tell, it sounded like they were on the path on the other side of the trees behind her. She was about to call out to them when she heard something that shut her up quickly.

"...I know. And what about Kara-san? Isn't it dangerous to let her join in? You heard about what happened the other day..."

Miyako tried to listen to what was being said, but the other two girls seemed to be walking away, their voices merging into the background noise of the campus. '_What were they talking about? Kara is dangerous?'_ Miyako didn't know what to make of that...Kara was her friend, one of her _best_ friends. Kara was a good girl; she wouldn't do anything wrong.

What was going _on_ today?! Ever since P.E., certain girls in her class had been acting strange, looking at the girls who had been called and giggling or grinning or making cryptic remarks. Even Urashima Taro, who normally ignored everyone else, kept grinning at them. It bothered Miyako...she felt like she was being left out of something, and couldn't figure out what it was. It was...it was _weird, _and Miyako _knew_ weird. She had lived in Mahora all her life after all. People dressing up like comic book villains and running through the streets? She knew Akiyama-san's family disapproved of his hobbies. Impromptu martial arts tournament under the world tree? She had watched Ku Fei practice there every morning for years before the chinese girl graduated high school. World War I era biplanes having a dogfight in the skies above the shopping district? Seen it a million times. If there was one thing about Mahora that set it apart from anywhere else she had visited, it was how open the city and its residents were about their weirdness, which is why her classmates' behavior set Miyako's 'weirdness censor' off. Why speak in whispers about something Kara had supposedly done? Miyako had gotten the distinct impression that Aiko and Kimi had been trying to avoid being overheard...why?

Miyako stood up from the bench, taking her bookbag with her. This was _weird_.

She looked back toward the gym, where Kara and the others were having their strangely long meeting with the P.E. teacher, then over at the two girls she was about to lose sight of. Miyako bit her lip as she considered what to do.

She decided to follow them.

* * *

><p>The path Aiko and Kimi took was long and circuitous, as if they were afraid someone might try to follow them. Luckily, Miyako knew the city and the campus like the back of her hand, and was able to stay out of sight without losing track of the two. A few times the other two seemed to get nervous, but she Miyako quickly ducked out of sight before they could turn around and spot her. Every now and then she could even catch snatches of conversation, all of which only fueled her curiosity further, a condition that only deepened when the duo paused for a moment, looking up and down the path, before suddenly turning off through a break in the bushes and onto an unpaved dirt track that led into the woods. Miyako frowned; she had never even noticed that path was there before. It didn't make any sense...she had been by this place dozens of times, so why hadn't she ever noticed that path...?<p>

She waited a moment for the other two girls to move a fair distance down the path before moving closer to get a better look. The break in the bushes was rather unremarkable... _'I'll have to pay careful attention to find it again,'_ she thought as she eased between the bushes, wincing as a thorn scratched her leg and left a thin red line across her thigh. A few small drops of blood bubbled up, but she quickly wiped them away, frowning. "I'll need to clean that up later..." she muttered as she eyed the bloody scratch. In any case, it wasn't a big deal at the moment, so she decided to let it go and focus on figuring out where Aiko and Kimi had gone. A quick glance showed they were already out of sight in the forest.

Miyako stood up straight and took a good long look around, frowning. Visibility in the forest wasn't as bad as it could have been, but there was enough undergrowth among the trees to limit it to a dozen yards or so in most places. She followed the path until it faded out among the trees, and paused for a moment. Aiko and Kimi had disappeared.

"Hm..."

'_How did that work?'_ she thought to herself. '_In that cowboy book I read, when that man was tracking that criminal, he looked for broken twigs and things, right? Things that weren't natural.' _ Miyako looked around and, sure enough, spotted a place in the underbrush that had been disturbed. From there, she looked around until she spotted a place where someone had stepped on a small plant, smashing it down to the ground. It was only a moment before she stumbled upon another path, this one much more worn than the previous one and, right there in the middle of it, sat a pencil case. Miyako looked around for a moment to see if anyone was watching, but she didn't see anything else that looked out of place. She picked up the pencil case, which she recognized as belonging to Abe Aiko, and put it into her bookbag. '_She will want that back later...' _She paused for a moment, looking back the way she had come, but shrugged; Kara would have to be on her own for a while. She used a napkin to wipe the fresh blood that had seeped out from the scratch on her leg and continued on.

* * *

><p>Miyako hid well back in the bushes, puzzled. '<em>Why is there a house all the way out here?'<em> she wondered as she poked her head out for another look. It was a fair-sized house sitting all by itself out in the woods, and judging by the light she could see inside one of the rooms on the second floor, it had electricity even though she couldn't see any power lines or hear the hum of a generator. Every once in a while, she saw figures moving inside the house, and if she she listened closely, she could hear bits of conversation, none of which made any sense to her. No doubt, she thought, due to the total lack of context behind it.

Several figures moved into one of the rooms she could see into, but she was still too far away and couldn't make out who they were with her obstructed view, despite the fact that several of the voices she heard seemed familiar.

'_I need to get closer...'_

Miyako took a moment to again wipe the blood from the scratch on her leg, then eased through the bushes in front of her, keeping as low as she could. She moved to the edge of the bushes and paused to get a better look at the yard. The wooden, cottage-style house sat in a small clearing in the woods, and boasted a sizable yard; Miyako thought it was quite nice. From the movement she could see through the windows, it appeared that quite a few people were inside...

'_I probably shouldn't be doing this...'_

She watched for a moment until startled laughter broke out somewhere in the house. Miyako bit her lip; what was going _on _in there...?

'_I've already come so far, though...it'd be a shame not to get a closer look before I go back,' _she thought to herself. She looked back and forth to make sure the yard was still empty, then stood up and darted through the bushes, running at a crouch until she came to the side of the house. She moved along the wall, being careful not to raise her head high enough to be seen through the windows, and made it to the corner of the house without being spotted. She peeked around the edge of the house and realized she was looking at the front porch, but there was nobody there so she moved along the wall until she came to a large, open window.

"Heh...it's so cute," someone said, the girl's voice startlingly loud after spending so long in the strangely quiet woods. Miyako barely bit back a yelp of surprise and crouched lower; whoever had spoken must have been mere inches away on the other side of the window. If whoever it was turned around-

"Master has nine hundred and seventy six plush toys and one thousand eight hundred and two dolls."

Miyako blinked. She knew that voice...! That was her classmate Rally Wheeler!

"'Master', huh? I dunno, this is still a bit hard to swallow, you know?"

Miyako blinked again. That had sounded like Rosemary...!

"Don't think about it too much, you'll just get a headache."

And that had sounded like Possum! Miyako frowned, troubled. What was going on in there...?

"Uh...hey, do you guys smell something?" Possum said. Miyako guessed the others must have shaken their heads, because Possum continued a second or two later. "It smells...really good..."

"Uh...hey Possum, are you alright? Because I'm pretty sure I just saw your eyes go all red and crazy looking." And that had been Rosemary.

"What you smell is blood. A particularly fine example, I might add. And Rally, don't talk about your master behind her back." The new voice was Evangeline! Miyako looked up nervously at the window and backed away. This was rapidly becoming strange and confusing.

"Understood."

"But...what?" Rosemary again.

"There is an intruder," Rally said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Master...?"

Evangeline let out a sigh Miyako clearly heard. "Go ahead Rally, see if you can catch our little mouse. Oh, be sure to use the front door."

"Understood."

Miyako looked at the front door as she backed away toward the corner of the house. She suddenly realized she _really _didn't want to get caught sneaking around outside the house. The whole clearing had a weird feeling to it, as if dangerous things happened in it. She backed away to the corner and turned to run.

"Gotcha~!"

Miyako bit off a startled scream as the grinning woman that had been standing behind her grabbed her. She let her Vale Tudo training take over and elbowed the woman in the head, not doing any real damage but startling her enough to loosen her grip. With a little more wriggle room, Miyako slid out of the woman's grasp and tried to run, but the woman quickly hooked her leg and tripped her. Miyako hit the ground rolling, but the woman pounced on her before she could escape and expertly pinned her to the ground.

Miyako struggled to squirm away, but the woman was too strong, too skilled at that sort of thing, a fact which Miyako, who had undergone training to be a professional wrestler, realized with a shock. "L-let me go...!"

The woman with the catlike grin shook her head. "Nope~I caught you little mousey, and now you're all mine~ Now come on, we need to get you inside..."

Miyako let out a yelp as the woman swiftly dragged her to her feet and grabbed her in a sort of sideways headlock that kept her too off balance to even attempt escape before dragging her up the front porch steps to the door, where Rally waited.

Miyako nervously bit her lip as the woman dragged her through the doorway and into a rather large room.

"Miyako...! Hey, let her go! Please!"

Miyako's eyes went wide. She couldn't see from her position, but that had definitely been Kara! When had she...?

"Hu hu hu~ if my dear Kara-chan asks me so nicely, I don't have a choice, do I?" the woman said, and suddenly Miyako realized where she had seen her before.

"Shiina-san...!" The drummer from Ayumi's favorite band, Dekopin Rocket! The woman giggled in a amusement as she released Miyako and stood back. Miyako quickly backed away until she hit a wall, looking at all the faces staring at her. "W...what is...?" she asked, looking at her bandmate. "What's going on here?"

Kara looked down at the floor, seemingly unable to explain.

"Watanabe Miyako...I should have known," someone said in a musing tone. Miyako quickly turned her attention to where Evangeline A. K. McDowell sat on a couch, surrounded by plush toys and dolls. "You might want to do something about that scratch on your leg; Possum's about to go berserk over there," she said, jerking her thumb toward a doorway.

"W-what...?" Miyako said as she glanced down to the scratch on her leg. It had mostly stopped bleeding, though a few small bubbles of blood had welled up since the last time she had wiped it clean. "What do you mean? Is Possum-san alright?"

"Just hold still, this will only take a moment," someone said in a perky voice. Miyako turned to look at the one who had spoken, and was startled to see a youthful woman with long dark hair, the same one she had seen around town, the same one who had been hugging Negi-sensei in Kyoto that time. The woman knelt down next to Miyako and held her hand out, muttering something under her breath. Miyako blinked in surprise as the woman's hand started glowing. The scratch on her leg started itching, and when she looked down, it was gone.

"What did you...?"

"Watanabe Miyako," someone said in a terrifying, gravelly voice. Miyako stiffened up and turned to see the P.E. teacher, Max Linell, standing there with his arms crossed as he gave her a terrifying glare.

"D-don't...you...you have to let me go," Miyako said.

The P.E. teacher only raised an eyebrow and continued glaring.

"I-I-I'm going to tell the...the headmaster!" Miyako said, gathering up all her courage as she stood up straight and forced herself to meet the P.E. teacher's eyes. He was almost a foot and a half taller than her and easily made two of her, but she took every last drop of courage she possessed—admittedly a rather small stockpile—and tried her best to glare back at him.

"Hmm...impressive," Evangeline said from her spot on the couch. "For a normal girl like _you_ to have the strength of will to stand up to _that_," she said, gesturing lazily at Max's back, "is _quite _impressive. Stand down, Linell."

Miyako blinked at Evangeline. Issuing orders to Scary Max-sensei? Had her classmate gone _mad_? Her surprised expression only grew when the P.E. teacher actually took her classmate's order and moved back to lean against the wall.

"You have no idea what you've just gotten yourself into, Watanabe," he warned, his growling tone sending a terrified shiver down her spine. "She's taken an interest in you."

Miyako looked from the P.E. teacher to Eva and back, confused. "What are you..." She trailed off as she spotted movement on the stairs, and froze.

A doll.

It was a doll.

Standing up on its own at the top of the stairs. And it was looking at her.

_A doll, standing under its own power, was standing at the top of the stairs, looking at her._

Miyako's eyes widened and she pointed her finger at the doll. "I-i-it's moving! By _itself_!"

The doll grinned creepily at her and, before Miyako had any chance to react, it drew a butcher knife that had been hidden somewhere in its dress. "You're not one of the new ones!" It said, and threw the knife.

The next second seemed to stretch out for Miyako. Her eyes focused on the knife, flying through the air toward her, and her mind kicked into overdrive. _It's moving too fast, can't run. Wall behind me, knife too close to throw myself on the floor. Kissy woman to my right, potted plant to my left, can't dodge. Have to hit._

She didn't even really notice the others in the room as she watched the knife, though she saw Scary Max-sensei's hand dart out, trying to stop the knife; he was an instant too slow and missed it by about six inches. Kara tried to throw a small knife of her own at it, but it missed as well. The knife was still coming; she noted with clinical clarity that, with the knife's spin and weight, it would easily imbed half it's blade into her stomach if it managed to hit.

Her left hand was moving before she even realized she what she was doing, and she slapped the knife out of the air an instant before it would have plunged into her stomach.

Time seemed to return to normal.

The kissy woman tackled her from the side, covering her body with her own, and then the P.E. teacher threw himself over the both of them. Miyako couldn't see what happened next, but there was a sense of furious motion as the dozen people who had crowded into the room burst into motion. There were the sounds of a brief scuffle, and then relative silence but for a _lot_ of heavy breathing.

"Hey! Let me go! She's an outsider, right? You said I could take care of anybody that wasn't invited!" the doll said.

"That was an order from ten years ago," Evangeline said, sounding rather annoyed. "Consider it rescinded."

"Can you let me up now?" Miyako asked quietly, starting to shake as her adrenaline wore off.

The P.E. teacher quickly moved off of them and stood back while the kissy woman helped put Miyako upright on the floor.

"There there, don't try to stand up yet. You're still shaking too badly," she said, holding Miyako in strange sort of half hug.

Miyako looked out over the room, eyes wide. She looked from the P.E. teacher, trying to hide the concern in his eyes, to Kara, who looked horrified, to Evangeline, who was glaring at the doll, to the doll itself, held up in the air by the hands by her classmate Rally so it couldn't do anything but kick its tiny feet uselessly, and then down to the knife, which lay on the floor, spinning slowly.

_I hit that._

Her eyes went back to the doll, which looked at her and grinned. "And it was such a good throw, too," it said, shaking its head in disappointment. Her eyes went back to the knife as it stopped spinning, and she stiffened up.

_The doll tried to kill me. It really tried to kill me. I almost died, for real. A knife in my stomach!_

She started shaking harder.

* * *

><p>"So, what do you think?" Max Linell asked as he leaned against the safety railing set up around the balcony he was standing on. "Watanabe is smart, and her reaction time is amazing for someone her age. I think training her here is a good idea; besides, she's accepting it pretty well," he said, gesturing down at the courtyard below, where Watanabe Miyako was undergoing a quick history lesson alongside most of the other newly-invited girls.<p>

"I wish everyone would be content with doing their schoolwork," Negi said tiredly.

Makie snickered nearby.

Negi sighed. "Yes, I know how absurd that dream is in this city."

Makie snickered again.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Max's good natured feeling faded as he heard that irritating fire mage who had followed him since the festival speak up behind him. He turned to shoot a glare at the man, but Cyrr just looked back at him and Max heaved a sigh and turned away. He didn't feel like dealing with it.

"It's better than letting everyone train by themselves and not understand how to fight together," Akira said from nearby, a little more sharply than she would have when speaking to almost anyone else. Cyrr glared at her, but she ignored it. The other water elemental, Ava Grace, sent a pouting glare at Cyrr in return. Both turned their noses up and looked away from each other.

Max and Akira both heaved weary sighs.

"How does Natsumi deal with hers?" Max asked, rolling his eyes. In addition to Max's 'pet' fire elemental Cyrr and Akira's water elemental Ava Grace, Natsumi had also acquired one, the light elemental/swordswoman Linda Cale, possessor of various overblown titles. From what he gathered, Linda and Kotarou often didn't get along.

"Whips and doggie treats, from what I understand," Makie said from nearby.

Akira went red while Max rolled his eyes at the joke, which he had first heard from Asakura. Natsumi's two-way pactio with Kotarou had resulted in her receiving a second pactio artifact in the form of two whips, while dog jokes about Kotarou were so common as to have lost most of their entertainment value...not that such a thing ever stopped Makie when she was in a joking mood, however.

"That's not what I mean," Cyrr said irritably after a moment.

"Then what?"

"All of your group is in this...this 'resort', correct?" he asked Makie, who nodded at him. "And the students you and the others have been training are also here, correct?" he asked, looking at Max.

"Yes, they're all here. There isn't much time left before we go to Mundus Magicus; we must take every chance we get to train them to protect Mahora while we're gone," he said. Akira and Makie nodded in agreement, while Ava just looked at him as if she had a hard time believing Cyrr might have had a point to his line of questioning.

"I know where you're going with this," Max stated.

"He's got a point," Negi stated tiredly as he slumped into the chair that had been brought to the balcony for his sake; he was still weak from the various ordeals he had been through since the festival. A lot of people were, in fact...the only reason Sakai Reiko was even up an walking around was that she had spent several real-world days recovering in Eva's resort.

Cyrr shook his head. "It needs to be said. If everyone is in _this_ place, who is left out in the city to defend it? I take it you're concerned about the state of the city, but if so, why have you removed so much of its first line of defense?"

Max grinned; it was ugly.

Makie grinned as well; it was quite cute on her. "Because we aren't the only defenders Mahora has, we're just the first line of defense; the second line of defense is nothing to laugh at, you know. You worry too much! Come on, Sear; why don't you go find Anya-chan? I think she's over at the target range, showing the new kids how it's done~"

Cyrr muttered something under his breath about impertinent girls and mispronounced names and gave her a reproachful look, but nonetheless managed to slip away by the time Makie looked back at where she had last seen him several minutes before. Max, Makie, and Akira shared a quiet laugh about the other fire elemental's obvious crush on Negi's childhood friend while Negi looked on, completely clueless.

"Huh...?" Negi asked. "What are you all laughing about?" He looked around at the others. "What's so funny?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Yeah, I really need to get a good buffer of chapters written so I can avoid all this time between updates...sorry about that. Also, I have almost half a dozen more side stories to post for Book 2, but most of them aren't in a condition to be posted, so they will continue being horrifically late compared to the chapters they're related to. Again...sorry about that. Anyway..._

_Dictionary time!_

_Tsun-tsun – Ever hear of 'tsundere'? Basically it means harsh/sweet and though the meaning has changed over time, it is usually used nowadays to refer to the sort of girls in anime who go between irritable and sweet, usually with one side being seen more often than the other; they often say things like "It's not like I'm helping you because I like you!" When Rosemary describes Kagami as 'tsun-tsun' in the first part of this chapter, she's referring to the way Kagami's default mode seems to be something like 'snap at others even though she just wants friends'._


	26. Ch 23 Vampires Again?

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 23: Vampires Again?**

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, July 14th, Midday, Somewhere in Mundus Magicus<em>

* * *

><p>'<em>Idiots!'<em>

The rather attractive young woman stalked down the echoing hallways of the large manor house she had appropriated after the death of her sire a few years before. Heavy drapes of some dark purple material hung over the windows let in narrow beams of sunlight, while the occasional marble statue or suit of armor imported from Mundus Vetus stood seemingly at random in small alcoves or along the walls, each placed with precision to best enhance the artful gloom of the place.

'_Those...those _monsters_ are responsible for the capture of not only Zeph's servant, but Jonus too! Horrible! And for the council to let them _get away _with it? Unthinkable...!'_

A frown marred the young woman's rather cute face as she turned down another hallway, this one decorated with large portraits hung along the walls. No one who had visited the recently renamed Honeydew Manor seemed to know who exactly the portraits represented, and it was highly unlikely the current owner knew either; the portraits were all of different styles, and few of the subjects held any resemblance to each other in features or dress other than a near-universal similarity in the stern, disapproving expression on each face, no doubt chosen for that very reason.

'_I cannot let them get away with this!' _Sir Alexander was right, something needed to be done! It was an affront to, well, everything she thought vampires should stand for! Someone needed to do something about it, and who better than her?

'_I will make you pay, Evangeline A. K. Springfield!' _the woman thought as she finally stopped in front of a meticulously hand-carved wooden door. '_Wait, no, it's McDowell. Springfield is...who is Springfield again? Wasn't there some kind of Taco guy, too...?' _She couldn't quite recall the details, but he was supposed to be related to some group of war heroes or outlaws or something twenty-something years before. Maybe. Possibly.

The woman shook her head to clear it and heaved the wooden door open, revealing the chamber she had used as her bedroom since before her sire had died. She snapped her fingers and a ball of light sprang into being in the middle of the ceiling. Inside the room, frilly pink sheets covered the bed, while hand painted bright white and yellow stars dotted the ceiling and a thick lavender carpet covered the floor. The furniture was all painted in bright colors, and the large oval mirror attached to the desk in which she kept her journals had star stickers pressed into place around the edges.

Beatrice Honeydew, number twenty-four among the Great Vampire Lords, the youngest member ever at her current age of one hundred and seven, might have loved projecting the appearance of a so-called 'classic vampire' to the public almost as much as number one among the Great Vampire Lords Zeph Castor, but she didn't see that as any reason to deny herself the things she liked when in private.

"Someone has to show them that that's not right!" she muttered to herself as she flounced over to her desk and pulled open a drawer. She pawed through the odds and ends in it until she came up with a yellow wand with a star on the end, and tossed it over onto her bed. She shut that drawer and opened another to reveal a large leather-bound book kept shut with a lock and chain. This, too, was thrown onto her bed. She riffled through several other drawers, tossing the occasional item onto her bed.

"I'll show them," she mumbled as she stood up and went to the large wardrobe situated in the back corner of the room. She flung the doors open and grabbed several changes of clothing, which she threw onto the bed. "How dare they hurt Jonus! He was my _friend_...!" She paused upon spotting the somewhat frilly black dress she often wore when traveling, then threw that, too, onto the bed, followed by the pointy black hat that she had always secretly thought of as her 'witch hat'. She made sure the lavender ribbon she had tied around it was properly secured, then stuffed a stack of cards with complex magic circles and diagrams drawn on them between the ribbon and the hat itself.

She turned back to the wardrobe and dug through the random castoff items that filled the bottom of it until she came upon the small knapsack she had personally enchanted into a bag of holding and began stuffing the various items on her bed into it except for the wand, the hat, and the black dress.

"And the others, how could they abandon Jonus and Carrick?" she demanded of the room at large as she snatched her riding broom out of the corner. "That's just short sighted!"

She quickly slipped out of the dress she had worn to the most recent meeting of the Great Vampire Lords and into the black traveling dress she liked so much. She put on a small white apron over it and stood in front of the big mirror hanging on her wall for a moment, admiring the dress she wore, then brushed her golden hair out of her face and put on the black hat. She tugged the brim down just enough to cover one eye and held it in place, and couldn't help but grin upon seeing her reflection. "This looks so _cool..._!" she squealed. "Just wait! They won't know what hit 'em!" She went over to her bed and took up the small knapsack and the broom, and hurried over to the door. She paused to take a quick glance around the room, then darted out into the hall in excitement, letting the door slam behind her. A few seconds passed, then she opened the door again and snapped her fingers, making the magic ball of light on the ceiling vanish. The door slammed again, and the room was left in darkness.

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, July 14th, Afternoon, Mahora<em>

* * *

><p>Takahata T. Takamichi stood up from the table and looked down at the papers that covered it from one end to the other. On particularly bad days, like the one he had just spent, the paperwork could easily become overwhelming. Still...<p>

He couldn't help but grin as he lit up a cigarette and took a long draw on it. He blew out a cloud of cigarette smoke and wandered over to the refrigerator. A quick glance inside was all it took to find the plate of yesterday's lasagna Shizuna had left for him. His grin widened slightly as he took it out and set about heating it up in his microwave.

Things were going well between him and Shizuna; they had been for a while. He knew she was waiting for him to 'pop the question', as Seruhiko put it, but he still had those nagging doubts... He shook his head to clear it. The past was the past; as terrible as it had been, despite the things he had done, despite the fact that he had let his mentor and others die...he felt it was finally time to move on. This revelation had been a long time coming, but with the help of Negi-kun, Asuna-kun, and the rest, those old wounds had for the most part healed. He wasn't ready yet, but now he knew that, in time... He looked back down at the table, still covered in papers.

Ever since his promotion to Head of Special Defense for the campus and city, he had had less time to interact with the students, but every now and then, on days like today... He took up one of the test papers he was grading for Negi from the table and grinned as he read some of the answers the student had written. Judging by her rather amusing attempts to translate the sentences provided into English, it appeared that Sasaki Rina had little grasp of the English language, just like her big sister Sasaki Makie had had when she had been that age. He tapped the ashes from his cigarette into an ashtray and headed for the microwave. Five seconds later, it beeped, signaling that his day-old lasagna was ready. He removed it from the microwave and cleared a space on the table for it, and continued grading Negi's class's tests as he ate.

* * *

><p>Beatrice heaved a sigh of relief as she stepped through the portal into the hot, humid air of Cambodia. She didn't do it out of any appreciation for the tropical humidity that assaulted her senses, but rather for the fact that her admittedly clumsy attempt to bribe one of the gate operators had actually worked. She paused for a moment, one hand in a fist on her hip, the other holding her broom. She looked around and took in a deep breath. She immediately regretted it; the air was full of smoke and chemical smells, and it stunk like that chicken farm she had once crashed into back in Mundus Magicus, only times a hundred, nowhere near as clean as the air over there. But that didn't matter! No, she had finally come back to Mundus Vetus! Back to Earth! The place of her birth! Well, granted, halfway around the planet and a hundred years or so from her place of birth, but still. She was back on Earth!<p>

Beatrice grinned and stepped aside to allow more room for the rest of the travelers that had made up the group she had been assigned to as they came through the gate to stand milling about in the courtyard in front of her. From what she could see, it was quite a large complex; the temple itself sat in the middle...or at least, she assumed it was the temple. It was the tallest structure she could see, anyway. '_Ah, what am I doing? I have somewhere to go!' _she thought to herself as she dug around in her pack for the illustrated atlas she had brought along. She quickly had it out and began searching through the pages to find a map of the country she was in. "Angkor...Angkor..." she muttered as she ran her finger down the list of locations until she found it. "Angkor Wat! Okay, so I'm here. Now, where's Mahora? In what was it, Japan? Yeah, that was it..." She flipped pages until she found one that featured the island nation of Japan. It took several minutes of searching to find any mention of Mahora, but soon enough, she had located that city as well. "Now, for the big map..." She flipped around until she found a map of Southeast Asia, and frowned after a moment. Japan wasn't there. She flipped pages until she found a map of the Indian Subcontinent. Again, Japan wasn't there. "Um..." She flipped more pages until she came to a map of the entire continent of Asia, and found herself staring.

"Um, miss? Is something wrong?"

Beatrice looked up to see one of the gate guides giving her a concerned look. She blinked. "T-t-two..."

"Two...?" the woman asked, wondering what the crazy blonde lady was talking about.

Beatrice looked back down at her atlas. "T-two thousand s-s-seven hundred m-miles..."

The gate guard blinked at her. "...excuse me?"

Beatrice looked up at her, her tear filled eyes threatening to overflow. "T-t-twenty seven hundred miles...! Between here and Mahora! Oh what do I do, what do I do?! I can't fly that on my own, I can't! I'll pass out over the ocean and _drown_...!" She didn't bother to think about the absurdity of a vampire of her caliber actually drowning; the unbelievable distance from her present location to her target had left her stunned.

"Oh! I'm sorry, did you take the wrong gate?" the gate guide asked, helping Beatrice to her feet. "Don't worry; we'll get you where you need to go. That's our job as the Inter-World Gate Guide Force!"

* * *

><p>About six hours later, a tearful Beatrice Honeydew climbed down off the airplane at the Tokyo International Airport. She was hustled through the check in process by an agent of the local magic association who had been called before her arrival, and brought to a waiting cab, which promptly set off for Mahora.<p>

Beatrice sat in the back of the cab, humming a happy tune to herself as she thanked any god she could think of for the timely help from the Gate-Guard-Whatever-They-Called-Themselves, when suddenly she recalled her reason for coming to Mundus Vetus.

"Ah..."

She looked nervously at the cab driver, but to her relief he seemed to be engaged in a passive-aggressive 'You first, no _you_ first, no I _insist_' contest with another cab. She let out a sigh of relief and dug into her knapsack. A moment later, she pulled out her journal and started writing.

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, July 14th, Evening<em>

_Hello Journal! It's been a rough day so far; first I almost got caught bribing one of the gate operators! Scary, right? They've got laws against letting vampires go to Earth, but I have connections! Jonus told me about this one man he knows who can get anyone through the gates, no matter what they are. Very cool. But after that, I ended up coming to Earth for the first time since I was turned, but I ended up three thousands miles from my target! Luckily, some nice people from some Gate-Guide-something-or-other helped me out and put me on an airplane to Japan. For free! They were very nice; I think I'll write a nice letter to whoever their bosses are._

_Anyway, I'm in Japan now! The man at the airport helped me out a lot with directions and money and stuff, and now I'm riding in a cab and I'm already halfway to Mahora! Don't worry, I'll save you, Jonus!_

* * *

><p>"Anything new?" Takahata asked as he strolled into the room deep within the administration building that served as the headquarters for both the Special Defense unit and the Special Operations Unit to begin his shift. The room itself wasn't particularly impressive; filing cabinets lined one wall, while a dozen or so computer desks were strategically placed around the room; most of them were currently empty, and would stay that way unless an incident occurred. The only truly notable feature, in fact, was the screen showing a large map of Mahora on the far wall; the map was entirely digital, could be altered with any number of overlays, and if necessary could be zoomed in to the point where one could read the hours of operation on a business's front door. He nodded to the room's occupants. "Toko. Gandolfini. Seruhiko."<p>

Kuzunoha Toko, head of the Special Operations Unit, greeted him with a nod of her own, as did her second in command, Gandolfini.

"A little more restless than usual," Seruhiko, a member of the Special Defense Unit, said. "But there's nothing unusual."

"Any new arrivals?" Takahata asked as he strolled over to his desk, eying the stack of paperwork in his inbox.

Seruhiko typed on his keyboard for a moment before looking back up at Takahata. "Three D-rank mages , two C-rank and one A-rank, all in a group together from France. They're here for business. As for those who are leaving, the Stride family, minus Negi's student Kara, of course, are planning on catching the eleven o'clock plane back to the States, Zed left to visit family in Okinawa and will be gone for two weeks, and, of course, most of Negi-kun's harem is with him in Evangeline's resort. From what I understand, they're planning on staying overnight until an hour before school starts tomorrow morning."

Gandolfini looked up from his own computer and whistled. "Half a month's worth of training; that's more than they usually do in one shot. Preparation for his leave of absence this summer?"

Takahata nodded, deciding to let Seruhiko's 'harem' comment go. "He's been under considerable stress recently; I have no doubt he needed some extra time to recover before his trip."

Seruhiko snorted in amusement. "So, he's in Evangeline's resort with his whole harem for 'recovery'. Note the air quotes," Seruhiko said. "'Recovery'," he repeated as he made air quotes again when no one commented. The other three just _looked _at him, and he sighed. "Okay, okay...sorry. It sounded better in my head," he said as he turned back to his computer. "Excuse me if I seem a little bitter."

Takahata grinned slightly. Seruhiko often complained about how everyone seemed to be paired up with someone else except him...the fact that women seemed to avoid him probably had something to do with the way he and Ninomiya-sensei looked at each other any time they were in the same room. He sighed, wondering if the others would complain if he lit up a cigarette. He decided not to when a quick glance around the room showed a distinct lack of ashtrays. No doubt that was Shizuna's doing; she had been trying to get him to quit smoking, or at least cut down. All it took was one look at Toko's gleaming eyes to realize she wanted to say something however, so he decided to take advantage of the opportunity to distract himself from his nicotine craving and relieve the somewhat awkward feel of the room after Seruhiko's 'recovery' comment. "Did you have something you wanted to say, Toko?"

The woman beamed at the room's three other occupants. "Look!" she said, taking something out of her pocket and holding it up to catch the light.

Gandolfini whistled again while Seruhiko groaned and dropped his head to his desk. "First Akashi, Takahata's only a matter of time, and now Toko, too! Is everyone getting married but me?!" he grumbled.

Gandolfini smirked slightly at the other teacher. "I hear Ninomiya-sensei still has a thing for you."

Seruhiko immediately quieted down and looked regretful. "It would never work. She's beautiful, intelligent, fun to be with, and has many of the same interests, but she doesn't know about magic...we're from two different worlds-"

Takahata tuned out Seruhiko's familiar star-crossed lovers spiel about why he and Ninomiya-sensei couldn't get together, even though everyone around them could tell they'd get along wonderfully. It was just a matter of time, really, and Takahata didn't see any reason why Ninomiya-sensei shouldn't be told the truth about magic, either; she was calm, sensible, and above all trustworthy. In addition to that, he had run a background check on her one day during a routine check of the teaching staff and other personnel, and though it had been a couple centuries back, there were several powerful mages in her family tree. He had no doubt she could be trained to become a mage, should she wish it. In any case, back to business. He moved in closer for a better look at Toko's engagement ring. He hesitated to admit it, even to himself, but he knew little of matters like this and could use every bit of information he could get. "When did this happen?"

Toko smiled, radiating joy. "Last night! He took me out to the premier of that new movie and a candlelight dinner at that fancy restaurant downtown by the museum, and proposed!"

For lack of any idea of how else he was supposed to respond, Takahata nodded, his eyes on the ring. The diamond on it was really quite large; Toko's boyfriend—no, he thought, Toko's fiance—must be a wealthy man. He knew the woman had had trouble with relationships in the past; she tended to try and hide the details of her job, which only resulted in angry boyfriends for the most part. He honestly hadn't expected her current one to last much longer. "Congratulations, Toko. Have you settled on a date yet?"

The woman shook her head. "Not yet, but I was thinking some time in the spring, maybe April? Or-"

Takahata tuned her girlish happiness out for a moment, making sure to nod at the right times as she gushed, while he thought again about Shizuna. They had been dating for several years already, and though he knew how she felt about him, he still had nagging doubts about whether or not he was worthy of-

"-and one of those arches with all the flowers on it you know the white ones-"

Takahata tried to ignore Toko's girlish squealing and resigned himself to a long night.

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, July 14th, Night, Mahora<em>

* * *

><p>Beatrice Honeydew paused on the street corner at the crosswalk, riding broom in hand and knapsack on her back, and frowned.<p>

There was a magic barrier, right in front of her, pale, flickering, and almost transparent. She glanced around at the others waiting for the light to change, but no one else seemed to be aware of it.

"Hmm..." she said, leaning closer. Beatrice had never been very good with barriers other than blasting her way through them. She thought this one probably wasn't one of those physical-types that were always so much fun to blast, but if it wasn't, what was it? Some kind of scanning barrier? Some kind of—her breath caught in her throat. Some kind of alarm barrier? Something that would lock her in place, maybe, or zap her? Could barriers do that...? She didn't know, but she wasn't about to discount the possibility. What would happen if she went through it? Unfortunately, the choice was taken from her as the crossing light turned green and the tightly packed crowd of people around her began to move. She was considering trying to push her way back through the crowd, away from the barrier, when a dirty looking man in ragged clothes, carrying a knapsack much like her own, plowed right into her, sending both of them across the barrier. Beatrice yelped and squeezed her eyes shut in preparation for...anything at all, really, but...nothing happened. She opened one eye experimentally, but all she got was odd looks from the other pedestrians.

"Thank you, little girl," someone hissed into her ear.

Beatrice shivered and whirled around, her wand half-drawn, but all she saw was the dirty man from before, smirking back at her as he waved a half-eaten candy bar. Then the crowd swallowed him up and she lost sight of him. What had _that_ been about? She couldn't help but feel nervous about that man, but a car beeped its horn at her and she hurried on across the street.

Safely on the sidewalk again, Beatrice looked around, wondering if that scary man was still around, but she didn't see any sign of him. She shivered, clutching her riding broom to her chest. '_I REALLY don't like that man,' _she thought to herself as she finally stopped to take a good look around.

The area Beatrice found herself in was extremely busy. It was also quite pretty, in her opinion, even flashy, not unlike Nyandoma or Eos at night, if much smaller. Bright neon signs lit up the night while strangely dressed people gathered in groups here and there in alleys and on sidewalks and hundreds, maybe thousands of people walked along under the streetlights. Even more unusual was the fact that, for the first time since arriving on Earth, nobody seemed to look at her strangely. No one stared at her dress, her witch hat only drew a few curious looks, and nobody at all looked at the riding broom she was carrying.

To be honest, it made her feel a little put out.

But still...it was really quite pretty.

* * *

><p>Takahata, having somehow weathered Toko's gushing torrent of wedding-related girltalk, soon made his way back to his desk, where he began working on the pile of paperwork threatening to spill out of his inbox. A quick check of his computer showed nothing particularly important to deal with there, so he settled in to do some paperwork.<p>

He had been seated maybe two minutes when an alarm sounded.

"Oh hell, it's gonna be one of _those _nights," Seruhiko grumbled from his desk nearby.

Takahata didn't bother to respond as he checked his computer for information.

"Something went through the barrier in the hotel district," Gandolfini said.

"Any idea what it was?" Takahata asked. The hotel district...Mahora's 'red light district', in other words. It was far less seedy than the vast majority of similarly named areas he had seen in his travels, but still...if Mahora had a center of organized crime, it would be there. He quickly accessed a street corner camera near the site of the breach, but there were too many people moving around; he couldn't see anything out of place. Oh, what a time for Asakura to be out of contact...her camera drones would have worked wonders in this case.

"The signature's garbled," Seruhiko announced. "I can't tell. Someone may have developed a way to fool our new barrier," he said, looking up at Takahata. "We'll need to get with Ayase on that."

"Make a note of it," Takahata replied, peering at his monitor. Now, who looked like they didn't belong...there. "Found it," he announced. "In front of The Ice Box."

"Got it," Seruhiko said as he quickly brought the video feed from the security camera up on the big screen at the front of the room and the four got a good look at their barrier crasher.

It was a girl in an odd looking black dress and witch's hat with a broom and a battered leather knapsack on her back. She looked to be a caucasian in her mid-to-late teens, blonde hair most of the way down her back.

"That...doesn't look much like a threat," Seruhiko said, raising an eyebrow as he watched the girl on the screen looking around in excitement as she stood in front of one of the more popular bars in the area. She turned toward the camera, showing her cute face, and Gandolfini snorted.

"Some monster," he said, amused.

"Settle down," Takahata said, half-amused himself. The girl certainly didn't _look _like a threat, but he knew many others who seemed just as innocent, and yet had the firepower to destroy half of Mahora if they wanted to. "We can't afford to take any chances." The room fell into silence as they watched the girl mill around on the sidewalk for a moment before wandering toward the camera and finally past it. Seruhiko did something on his computer and the view on the screen switched to a different camera, this one across the street and lower down.

"How tall would you say she is?" Seruhiko asked as he worked on the official description. "It's hard to tell with that hat..."

"Five-one, maybe five-two," Takahata replied as he glanced at the big clock on the wall and tried to recall which member of the security team would be closest to the breach. "Contact whoever's got the current patrol in that area; have them follow this girl, but tell them not to let themselves be seen."

* * *

><p>On a shadowy rooftop, a dark figure crouched, watching people pass by below. Her sharp eyes scanned the crowd for her target and quickly found what they were looking for. She flipped her cell phone open and sent a quick text message back to HQ.<p>

_-Spotted the target. Following.-_

She crept along in the shadows behind a billboard, watching the strange blonde witch-girl from across the street. She wasn't impressed. The girl obviously had no idea what she was doing; whether it was from naivete or childish excitement, the witch-girl wasn't paying enough attention to her surroundings...she didn't even seem to realize she had a small group of thugs eying her. Cocone kept to the shadows as she moved over to the next rooftop, easily keeping pace with the witch-girl on the sidewalk below.

Cocone had come a long way from the days when she had tagged along with Misora when the other girl was performing her duties as part of Mahora's secret defenses. Gone was the sad little child she had been years before; she had grown up into an exotically beautiful young woman over the past six years, and even had quite a following among her schoolmates. She was quite the serious-minded girl, avoiding gossip and usually turning down offers from her classmates to go out in the city and play in favor of further training her skills and doing what she could to help advance her long-term mission as part of the Empire's Immigration Plan. She just wished Misora was still around...

Cocone relaxed slightly as the thugs let the girl pass unmolested. She decided to send another text message.

-_When is Nodoka coming back?-_

-**Tomorrow. Use texting for now.-**

Cocone frowned and turned her attention back to the strange girl again. Miyazaki Nodoka's mental network made information exchange during patrols so much easier...while a similar effect could be created with the proper magic circles, it was far more flashy and attention-getting than Nodoka's thought-based communication method to the point where, in a situation where remaining unobserved was necessary, it was all but useless. As for other options, most of them required far too much time and ritual to use, while messenger shikigami were slow and could be easily stopped by any number of things. Thus, cell phones and text messages entered the equation. You just had to remember to turn your volume all the way down so the one you were following didn't hear your cell phone ring every few minutes...

Cocone snapped back to attention.

The blonde girl's behavior pattern had changed.

Gone was the country bumpkin behavior from before; a predator's aura had taken its place. Cocone whipped out her cell phone and had half her message typed before she spotted the girl's intended victim.

-_She's stalking a woman and her daughter. Orders?-_

Cocone moved to the next rooftop and quickly nocked an arrow and drew her bow, but the order to loose didn't come. She waited a tense ten seconds as the witch-girl followed the foreign woman and her daughter until they turned down an empty side street. Cocone's eyes narrowed as the witch-girl passed out of sight around the side of a building, and she was off like a flash, the arrow returned to the small quiver on her back and the small compound bow attached to the quiver harness. She made her way to a part of the street where the roofs of the two buildings opposite each other were closer together than the rest, and crossed the empty space between them with a running leap. She quickly ran across the rooftops until she ended up above the alley the witch-girl had gone into. She risked a peek down at the floor of the alley, and let herself breathe a little easier when she saw the witch-girl hadn't attacked the other two; instead, they were speaking to each other. Her cell phone vibrated against her hip, so she drew it and flipped it out to read her orders.

**-Do not interfere. Your presence will only make the situation worse. Continue to watch.-**

Cocone's frown deepened.

* * *

><p>Beatrice couldn't be happier. Here she was, finally in Mahora! The whole place was awesome! Or at least, what she had seen of it so far. And so many of the people smelled absolutely <em>delicious<em>...! In fact...she grinned as she spotted a woman and her daughter walking along, the mother carrying a heavy travel bag and the daughter loaded down with what looked like cases for musical instruments. Beatrice slipped up behind them and followed along, waiting for her chance...and then it came when the woman abruptly turned onto a side street, followed after an awkward moment by her daughter. Beatrice followed.

When she turned the corner, she found the woman standing in the middle of the narrow alley with her back toward her while the girl stood beside her, looking confused. Beatrice slipped off her knapsack and moved closer as anticipation of the meal that was sure to follow began to take over.

"What do you want?"

Beatrice stopped. _That _was odd...time to improvise. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" she asked, then mentally kicked herself for such a cheesy line.

"Not in particular," the woman said, turning to face her.

Beatrice stumbled upon seeing the woman's cold expression, but continued forward, trying to mask her embarrassment. "It is quite lonesome," she said. She realized how ludicrous it sounded as soon as the words were out of her mouth, but by then it was too late to take it back, so she continued forward, locking eyes with the woman the way Sir Alexander had shown her. Unfortunately she couldn't tell if the woman was falling for her hypnosis.

The woman's eyebrow went up as Beatrice did her best to slink forward and play up the 'seductive vampire' act, just like she had practiced with Sir Alexander.

"Don't you think it would be better to—"

The next thing Beatrice knew, she was flat on her back with her hat and knapsack lying on the ground nearby. She sat up and looked around, confused. She didn't understand what had happened; one moment she had been walking up to the woman, and then—she jumped up to her feet. '_My broom! Where is my broom?!'_

The answer to that question came half a second later, when the handle of her magically reinforced riding broom came smashing down upon the top of her skull.

"...ow..." she muttered from her new spot on the ground.

"Hmph. _Vampire_," the woman said, all but spitting the second word. Beatrice struggled to pull herself up to a seated position, but the woman struck her another tremendous blow, leaving her groaning on the pavement. "If this was _my _territory, I would go much further than beating you half to death with your own broom, _child_. But...this is not my territory. You may go, but I will only give you one warning, vampire. If you follow me or attempt to harm me or my family, _I will end you_. Never forget the name of Alyssa Stride, vampire." With that, the woman threw down Beatrice's broom, turned, and stalked away, leaving her lying there, dazed.

"...ow..." Beatrice muttered again as she gingerly probed the top of her head with her hand. She grabbed her hat and broom and dragged herself upright to lean against the side of the alley, her lower lip quivering. '_I won't cry, I won't!_'

She cried.

* * *

><p>Takahata felt the urge to smack his head into a wall, but settled for a sigh as he reached up to adjust his glasses and squeeze the bridge of his nose.<p>

"Another vampire. Of course," Seruhiko said, rolling his eyes as he typed the new information into the profile he had started for their unexpected guest. "So, do you think she's here for a reason, or just sight seeing?" he asked, glancing over at Takahata.

"I don't know, but I know someone who might," Takahata said. "Excuse me while I make a phone call..."

* * *

><p>"Ow ow ow," Beatrice muttered as she put on her hat and strapped her knapsack back on. She adjusted the brim of her hat to the proper angle to hide her tear-streaked face and made sure her grip on her broom was really strong. She didn't want it taken away again, after all; it was a gift from her former master, and she didn't know <em>what<em> she'd do if it were to be lost or stolen.

She went to the opposite end of the alley from which the scary Alyssa Stride woman and her daughter had gone, and peeked out at the street, looking both ways. Suddenly the bright lights and crowds of people began to take on a more sinister aspect in her mind; behind every gathering of friends was a vampire slayer, behind every smile or grin or random glance was a devious mind, plotting to hunt her down...deviously... '_I'll just leave this area and go somewhere that's more quiet,'_ she thought as she shivered. She hurried out of the alley and off down the sidewalk away from the bright lights of Mahora's hotel district.

* * *

><p>Beatrice had walked perhaps ten minutes before she realized she could smell a river. She stopped and looked around, taking in her surroundings. Gone were the bright lights and bars she had seen earlier, replaced by aging apartment buildings on one side of the street and what looked to be a bunch of factories or warehouses on the other. Beatrice looked around to make sure no one was watching and hopped on her broom. She rose up above the roof level of the warehouse next to her, reveling in the light of the half-moon above. She loved flight; she always had, from the first time she had ridden on a broom. The freedom of movement, the wind in her hair, the way everything looked so different from high above...it was wonderful! She giggled in exhilaration as she looked around, trying to catch sight of moonlight reflecting on water. She spotted the river a moment later and set off toward it. The trip only took a minute or so, and she quickly descended onto the riverbank.<p>

Beatrice smiled as she stood on the grassy slope. Even though the river stank compared to the ones in Mundus Magicus, even though trash lay scattered over the grassy slope of the riverbank, even though the water was dirty and flowing slowly, she let out a sigh of happiness. Despite running water being one of the classic vampire weaknesses, Beatrice had always loved rivers; an effect, she had no doubt, brought about by the fact that she had lived the early part of her life on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. Though she had only lived there for seventeen years before the incident that had made her into a vampire, they had been the years that had made her who she was. Though she knew she could never go back to how things had been, those first seventeen years of her life had been some of the best, and whenever she had a chance, she would sit down on a riverbank and let her mind drift back to those days.

"Ah..."

Beatrice jolted back to her feet and whirled to face the one who had spoken, and found herself staring. There, in front of her, stood a girl. She was an inch or so shorter than Beatrice herself, with fairly short brown hair. She didn't look Japanese, either.

She also smelled pretty good.

Beatrice took a step forward, smiling at the girl. "Hello," she said, trying to give the girl a winning smile.

"...hello..." the girl said nervously. Nevertheless, she held her ground.

"What's your name?" Beatrice asked as she took another step. She was really quite thirsty after traveling all day, and a little blood would be a nice treat...

"I-I'm Caro, Caro Shaw," the girl replied, still holding her ground as Beatrice drew closer.

"Caro Shaw? That's a pretty name. Mine is Beatrice Honeydew."

"That's...a pretty name," Caro said, embarrassed by the woman's compliment, mild though it was.

"I think so too," Beatrice said as she finally drew within arm's length of the girl. "Tell me Caro, what do you think about vampires?" she asked as she lunged.

She hadn't intended to hurt the girl or turn her or anything, just take a little blood and leave her mark on the girl's neck, because wasn't the 'kiss of the vampire' just the most romantic thing? It was one of the best things about being a vampire...! She had thought so since the first time she read Dracula!

Sadly, it was not to be.

The girl screamed and shoved her away. Hard.

It took a moment for Beatrice's mind to catch up with the mass of pain that had been her stomach, or the fact that she was now flying through the air backwards, or that another shape was moving alongside her, this one a dark skinned girl with silver hair and weird eyes. The second girl kicked her in mid-air, and Beatrice's body hit a telephone pole and wrapped around it. She hit the ground an instant later and let out a moan as she curled up into the fetal position.

"No," the second figure said, then jumped away, leaving her there alone.

* * *

><p>Cocone watched as the vampire got the stuffing beaten out of herself for a second time, and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. After all, running into those two demons out on a training run so late at night? Still, vampire. She shook her head and let out a sigh as she took out her cell phone and texted the latest development to HQ. She settled in to wait for the vampire to recover.<p>

It was a fairly long wait. Eventually, however, the vampire stopped sniffling and dragged herself to her feet. She stood by the telephone pole for a moment, swaying as if she might faint, then staggered down to the river's edge to retrieve her hat from a pool of stagnant water there. The vampire woman was still wearing that ridiculous knapsack, and it took her a good ten minutes to find her broom. She was just starting to move on down the street when Cocone's cell phone vibrated against her hip. She drew it out of her pocket and flipped it open to read the text message she had just received.

**-Incoming from the east. Situation urgent. Prevent new subject's contact with target at all costs.-**

The cell phone went back in her pocket and an instant later she was sprinting through the shadows and scrambling up a drainpipe to get to a better vantage point. She scrambled along the rooftop and jumped the gap to the next one, rolling to cushion the blow of the landing, and ran to the edge of the roof to look out at the street, watching the vampire woman just long enough to make sure she was still heading straight before moving on past her, trying to spot the 'new subject'. It took her a moment, but when she did, her throat went dry.

Cocone felt like swearing.

The 'new subject' was none other than Mahora's resident half-schizophrenic lover of gardening tools, Maple Birdsong, out for a midnight walk. She didn't appear to be armed, but Cocone knew that didn't mean much, not for the girl in question. Maple Birdsong tended to be very destructive when fighting, and Cocone was quite sure she wouldn't take well to being accosted by a vampire. HQ had said the situation was urgent, and to prevent any contact between the crazy girl and the vampire...now the only problem was how to accomplish such a feat. Simply telling Maple to go somewhere else would only net her a confused look and total disregard of her order; the only option was to go after the vampire instead, but that could jeopardize everything if it wasn't handled properly...

"Well hello there."

Cocone _did_ swear that time. She looked over the edge of the roof to see the idiot vampire had seen Maple coming and zipped up to her. If Maple started fighting her, she wouldn't hold back like the others had done, much less stop so quickly. She pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow, but hesitated. What to do...what _could_ she do? Her cell phone vibrated again.

* * *

><p>Beatrice almost didn't take the opportunity when it arrived. She was tired, sore, and dispirited from being beaten easily twice in a row, and almost passed the next opportunity by when it showed itself.<p>

The girl she was looking at seemed exhausted. The way she carried herself as if the weight of the world was pressing down on her, the way her feet dragged as she walked, the weariness in her expression...surely, surely this was one who wouldn't be able to hurt her? The strange girl would probably welcome a hospital visit, Beatrice thought. Her blood wouldn't be as sweet as someone who was strong in magic, but there was nothing wrong with a little plainness from time to time, was there? Not to Beatrice's thinking. So she made her way down the street as quickly as she could and stepped out of the shadows in front of the girl. "Well hello there."

The tired girl just _looked_ at her.

"I-I said, 'well hello there,'" Beatrice tried again. When the girl still didn't respond, Beatrice cocked her head to the side. "It's generally considered polite to respond when someone greets you, you know," she said playfully, winking at the girl. The girl's eyes locked on hers, and something in them sent a shiver down her spine.

"You..." the girl said.

"...me?" Beatrice asked. She had a sudden urge to back away slowly, without making any sudden movements, almost as if she had just come upon some sort of rabid animal out in the woods.

"I _knew _something was out here. You are a vampire," the girl said, narrowing her eyes.

Beatrice blinked at the sudden statement as she tried to formulate a plan to deal with the girl. "W-well of course not! That's absurd! Vampires, in this day and age!"

The girl just _looked _at her.

Beatrice swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. She definitely felt she was walking a tightrope here. The situation had somehow been reversed without her realizing it, and now she felt as if _she_ should be the one to run screaming into the night. Her! A proud member of the Great Vampire Lords! The youngest ever! '_Like hell!'_ she thought. She clenched her teeth and stalked closer to the girl, closing the space between them until they were standing barely a foot apart. She had to look up slightly to meet the girl's eyes, but she put everything she had into the glare she shot at her.

"Maybe you're right," she said. "Maybe I am a vampire, a creature of the night that crouches on rooftops and stalks maidens in their beds! Maybe I'm a vampire, and maybe I'm thirsty! And maybe I want some of your bloo—"

Beatrice's rant was cut off when the girl punched her in the throat.

She staggered back, clutching at her neck, but the strange girl went right after her and backhanded her across the face, knocking off her hat, then wrenched her riding broom away. Beatrice had barely managed to recover from being hit across the face when the girl drove the end of the broom into Beatrice's stomach, dropping her to her knees as she wrapped her arms around her middle. The girl then swung the broom with tremendous force into the side of Beatrice's head; Beatrice let out a cry as she was knocked down to her side on the pavement. The girl hit her again twice more as she lay on the ground, then swung the broom away with all her might, sending it flying halfway down the block where it bounced several times before coming to rest in a street gutter. Beatrice tried to drag herself up, but the girl kicked her in the side of the knee, making her cry out again and dropping her back down. The girl then grabbed her by the hair on the sides of her head and drove Beatrice's face into her knee. Beatrice cried out a third time and fell back on the ground.

"Wait!" someone cried out down the street.

Beatrice barely had time to absorb the fact that someone else was trying to stop what was happening before she was kicked in the side of the head. Lights exploded in her brain, and the next thing she knew, she was looking up at a familiar face.

"J-Jonus...?" she muttered.

"That's right," he said, looking down at her with a guarded expression.

"She tried to attack me," someone said nearby, and Beatrice fearfully sat up. She immediately laid back down, holding her aching head; that girl had really done a number on her, and so quickly, too...!

"Why are you here, Beatrice?" Jonus asked her, his tone deadly serious.

Beatrice tried to focus on him, but her vision was all blurry and going in and out of focus. "To...to save you...S-sir Alexander s-said, h-he said...h-he said you p-probably needed he-help..." Beatrice said as her breath started to hitch and she felt her lower lip start to quiver. '_No! I can't cry, I'm on a rescue mission! I'm an adult! A vampire! Vampire's don't cry!'_ she told herself, but it was no use. Tears started to fall and she covered her face to hide them.

Then, much to her surprise, Jonus knelt down beside her and pulled her half upright against him, so her head was lying against his chest. "Child..." he said sadly. And that was it; the floodgates broke and the tears poured down as she cried into his chest.

* * *

><p>Jonus looked from the crying girl to Carrick and the other two, the human girl who had just beaten a vampire so badly she cried, and the girl who had pulled her off before she could kill her...Cocone, she had said her name was when she showed up earlier to show him and Carrick where exactly Beatrice was after that call from Takahata. He sighed. He was too old for this sort of thing; sure, Beatrice Honeydew was a member of the Great Vampire Lords with all the power and rights and prestige that implied, but she was also a mere child by vampire terms, barely over a hundred. She should never have joined them at that age! Her inexperience would make her a mere pawn among the other Great Vampire Lords, something to be used until it was no longer useful and then disposed of like a piece of trash or a broken toy.<p>

The trouble was that Beatrice would never have survived out in the world on her own, not as she was when she had been invited to join them. She was a little better now, true, but still... When she finally got control of herself and her sobs became mere sniffles, he held her out at arm's length and made her look him in the eye. "Beatrice," he said.

Beatrice looked at him, then away as if embarrassed for crying on him, then reluctantly forced herself to meet his gaze. "Y-yes?"

"Beatrice," Jonus said, making sure she understood that what he was about to say was very important. "You have no idea what you have gotten into, here. You say Stratos sent you, but why are you taking orders from the others? You are one of us now; you don't have to take orders from anyone now that your sire is dead."

Beatrice looked back up at him, but whatever she was about to say was interrupted as Cocone chose that moment to speak up.

"All three of you are coming with me to answer some questions," she said, as if completely unaware of the absurdity of a human child issuing orders to two of the most powerful vampires alive and an intelligent ghoul. Nevertheless, in exchange for his life, Jonus had agreed to be 'put on a leash', as Carrick called it; he was bound to follow the orders of those who were in charge in the city.

"Come, Beatrice. There are some people you will have to meet, if you are to stay here," he said.

"Stay? But-"

"As much as I dislike the man, Sir Alexander Stratos is not a fool. He sent you here for a reason. Come, it's time to go." Jonus turned to Cocone and looked past her to where Maple Birdsong stood, scowling, twenty feet away. When she noticed him watching, she turned and walked away, the usual tired droop returning to her shoulders. But, for just a moment, he had had a glimpse of something else, the predator hidden under the guise of a tired, malnourished girl. To say they were like the eyes of a griffin or a dragon would be the same as saying the sea was a little wet, or a winter in the north was a little chilly. Jonus Hart, vampire of several thousand years, felt a shiver run down his spine. Whatever else she appeared to be, that girl was a _monster_.

"Let's go," he said, careful to keep his tone of voice under control.

* * *

><p>"So," Takahata said as he watched Seruhiko go to work on charming the vampire girl in the interrogation room on the other side of the glass, "you say she is harmless, and yet she's a member of the same group that sent you?"<p>

Jonus watched Seruhiko expertly manipulate his fellow vampire until she was blushing shyly, and heaved a sigh. He glanced over at Takahata. If there was anyone in Mahora he felt he could relax around, it would be the man who stood just within arm's reach by the two-way mirror, holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth as he patted down his pockets, no doubt looking for a lighter. Takahata was a good man; Jonus knew the type. Back when he had been a knight, he had worked with the greatest concentration of good men he had ever seen, and perhaps the best king he had ever met. Those days were long gone now, and he bore a great part of the blame for it. Jonus idly reached over and shot a tiny jet of flame at the end of the cigarette.

"Thanks," Takahata said.

Jonus grunted in reply, and they stood watching the interrogation silently for a long moment.

"Beatrice isn't like the rest of us," he finally said.

"How so?"

Jonus paused. How to describe the girl's innocence? Her naivete? The way she was so wrapped up in the sheer _romance_ of being a vampire, and yet had never managed to kill a single person?

"She should never have joined us, or even been turned," he finally said. "She is too kind, a dreamer. Easily manipulated. If her sire hadn't taken responsibility as soon as he realized what he had done..." What? Would he have taken over Beatrice's care himself? Jonus didn't know, but he did knew he couldn't have left her as she was; something about her drew his sympathy in a way no other being had done in the past fifteen hundred years. He supposed the way he felt about her was not unlike the way one might feel about a favored niece, or perhaps a favorite grandchild.

Takahata watched Seruhiko and Beatrice interact silently, letting Jonus gather his thoughts.

"Stratos sent her here to get her out of the way."

Jonus realized Takahata was looking at him, so he continued. "There are...factions...among the Great Vampire Lords, and the situation is becoming tense. With the loss of three of our number in the past six years, we are severely weakened. I tell you this," he said, turning to Takahata, "in the hope that you will not spread this information, but rather keep it as secret as possible." He waited for Takahata to nod before he continued. "First was her sire, Atton Bright, one of our oldest members. He was murdered, betrayed by the members of an opposing faction of our group." Jonus's expression turned to a glare as he recalled stumbling upon the scene of the crime, Atton's body lying on the ground, already turning to dust while Chaser Felix, Dexter Marlowe, and Slater Downs all stood around it. He _knew_ what had happened; it was plain as day. Nevertheless, he hadn't had any way to prove it, so the issue hadn't even made its way to Zeph Castor, First among the Great Vampire Lords. It wasn't even as if such a thing was unheard of, or even unusual...many of them had fallen in a similar manner over the centuries, though the last had been over two hundred years ago.

"Who were the others?" Takahata asked.

Jonus grinned in sly satisfaction. "Dexter Marlowe and Chaser Felix, both of whom were killed by someone I believe you know."

"Oh?" Takahata said, raising an eyebrow as he glanced over at Jonus.

"Indeed," Jonus said, grinning at the fact of their deaths. "Her name, I believe, is Kasuga Misora, and she is now ranked high among the greatest vampire slayers to ever live."

Takahata's eyebrows shot up at that. He had known Misora's dorm in Rome was attacked by a vampire whom she later killed, but he wasn't aware of the vampire's name or status, much less that she had killed another at some point after that. He would have to contact the church and find out what else he hadn't been told... "Has this been confirmed?"

"Yes," Jonus said. "She, alone, was responsible for the deaths of two of our number. Despite Evangeline's opinion of us, not just any vampire is allowed to join the Great Vampire Lords. In all our history, less than a hundred vampires have ever been admitted to our group; only the best, or," he said, looking back at Beatrice on the other side of the glass, "those who have the potential to be among the best, are allowed to join."

"What about the factions?" Takahata asked.

"There are three major factions, though there are alliances among us as individuals that ignore faction lines," Jonus said. "The first, and most logical, faction is headed by our leader and founder, Zeph Castor. He believes we should continue on as we are, living in the shadows and only interfering with mortal matters when the opportunity for profit presents itself. This is the faction that I, myself, am part of."

Takahata let out a puff of cigarette smoke.

"The second is far more idealistic, unrealistically so in my opinion," Jonus said. "It is lead by Sir Alexander Stratos, who believes we should try to integrate into the rest of society, or failing that, arrange to live openly in peace. While it is a nice dream, it is unworkable in any large way. There are too few vampires, and everyone knows our reputation," he said, letting the tips of his fangs poke out as he made an unpleasant grin. "This is the faction Beatrice's sire belonged to. While she hasn't declared support of any particular faction, I believe this is the one she would support if pressed, if only because she thinks she loves Stratos."

"What about the third?" Takahata asked.

Jonus sighed. "I had hoped to avoid speaking of that one, if possible. But since you insist... The third faction is led by a vampire called Judas Grimm." He glanced over at Takahata to see if the name had the effect he had intended. He nodded to himself when Takahata stiffened up and turned to look directly at him.

"Judas Grimm is one of your members?" Takahata asked, his tone dead serious.

Jonus nodded. "Yes; Judas Grimm, the number one most wanted vampire in Mundus Magicus since the disappearance of Evangeline A. K. McDowell, is one of our number." He met Takahata's gaze for a long moment before looking back at Beatrice. "Judas Grimm is only interested in killing those who fight him and enslaving the rest. The two killed by Kasuga Misora were friends of his. He is one of us, and before I left he began to show an interest in Beatrice. Or rather, in her potential for power."

"Power?"

"While she will never be as effective due to her temperament, she has a lot of power and will likely be on par with Evangeline herself one day," he said. "Her magic capacity is tremendous, and will only grow from here. She is, like several of our other members and Evangline herself, considered a 'True Blood' vampire. What more could Judas Grimm want than the perfect piece of magic artillery for his little army?"

"And so she was sent here to keep her safe."

Jonus nodded. "You have no idea what sort of reputation this place has gained in the underworld. They say the city of Mahora as it is right now could hold off the combined might of half the nations of this world. They say any one of the dozens upon dozens of mages and warriors who live in this city could take out a small army on their own. They say a genius mage known only as 'Ayase' has devised magitech barriers capable of holding off anything short of a nuclear explosion, and some claim they can even block _that_. All embellishments, I'm afraid, but they are not without a grain of truth, as I saw for myself during that...unpleasant incident some time ago. When one of your residents is Evangeline A. K. McDowell, and she actually behaves herself, well...rumors get started." Jonus let out a sigh as he watched Beatrice blushing furiously at Seruhiko on the other side of the glass. "Where better to send a naïve child who will grow to have the power to influence nations? This city is, without a doubt, one of the safest places in any of the worlds. One would have to be a madman to try and breach its defenses sober."

* * *

><p>The dirty man in the ragged clothes darted from the shadow of one building to another, avoiding light anywhere he could.<p>

"Where are you, where are you... I know you're here somewhere, I can _smell _it..." he muttered to himself as he scrambled halfway up the side of a run-down apartment building and hung there with one hand while the other held a half-eaten candy bar. He took another bite of his candy bar and hung there, looking around, cocking his head as if listening to something only he could hear. "Where are you...there." He let go of the side of the building and let himself fall the thirty feet between him and the ground, and landed on his feet. He shoved the last of the candy bar in his mouth, wiped the chocolate on his hands on the front of his dirty, chocolate-stained shirt, and took off at a dead run for the little house he had spotted a block or two over. A short time later, he stood in front of thehouse.

It wasn't impressive in any way or even notable except for the fact that it had a rather sizable garden behind it with a series of padlocks on the door of the shed that sat beside it. The man ignored the garden and the shed, however, and slipped through the shadows up to the front door. He gently tried the doorknob, careful to not make a single sound, but it was locked. He paused a moment, looking around to see if anyone was around, and shoved the doorknob through the door. He paused to listen as the shattered pieces of the doorknob fell to the floor inside the house, but there was no cry of alarm from inside. Instead, he could hear...breathing. A heartbeat, slowing gaining speed.

He grinned.

He pushed the door open and strolled inside as if he owned the place, pushing it shut after him. He poked around in the small entry room for a moment, then moved on to the next room, which appeared to serve as a living room. He poked around in the pantry for a moment before coming up with a can of beans, which he ripped open and devoured. He wiped what he had spilled on his face away with his sleeve and tossed the can aside, unheeding of the racket it made in the otherwise quiet house when it bounced off the floor. He poked around some more until he found half a loaf of bread, and devoured that with the same carelessness he had shown with the can of beans, leaving crumbs and chunks of bread where they fell. He checked the small refrigerator next, but didn't find anything of interest except a couple plastic jugs of water, which he tossed aside. One of the jugs cracked as it hit the floor, spilling water all over.

"I gotta say, you can't keep a pantry full for _shit_," he said aloud. He made a toothy grin as the heartbeat sped up at his words. He crept toward the two doors he saw on the other side of the room. He knew full well that the owner of the heartbeat was behind the one on the left, but he was enjoying his game too much to just cut to the chase, so he approached the one on the right first, taking care to make his footsteps loud enough to be heard by the hidden listener.

"Are you..._in here_?" he said loudly, throwing the door on the right open so hard that it bounced off the wall, the doorknob leaving a round hole in the drywall. He stepped into the bathroom and took a moment to look around. "Nice pink shower curtains you've got here," he said, ripping them down along with the bar that held them up. Next, he yanked the mirror off the front of the medicine cabinet and swept the contents out so they fell into the sink and onto the floor, and kicked over the wastebasket. "You know," he said loudly enough to be heard all through the small house, "this is pretty fun. I could get used to a little vandalism from time to time." He picked up the mirror and smashed it against the corner of the sink. "Oops, that's seven years' worth of bad luck...heh."

He exited the bathroom and crept over to stand in front of the bedroom door, behind which the house's occupant waited, her heart beating quickly. He reared back and kicked the door open, tearing it off its hinges to fall into the surprisingly small room, made to seem even smaller by the addition of two western-style beds.

"Heeeere's _Johnny!"_ he said, poking his head around the door jamb. The man made an ugly grin as he eyed the girl lying on the far bed. She wasn't moving, but her heart was positively _racing._ "What's the matter, didn't like it? Wasn't that funny? You know, from that movie with the guy in the hotel that goes crazy? The guy went crazy, not the hotel. Or maybe it _was _the hotel, I dunno. It wasn't really clear. Yeah, that movie sucked," he said as he sauntered into the room. He ripped the worn sheets and blanket off the first bed and threw them on the floor as he looked at the girl lying on the second bed. "I saw it last year in some guy's house after I killed 'im. Man, that guy had some good pizza," he said as he tossed the broken door out of the way and moved to stand over the girl in the bed. He glanced around, spotted a decomposing night stand with a little old fashioned radio and a lamp on top of it, and slapped both items off of it; the lamp shattered against a bedpost while the radio bounced off the wall and some of the plastic panels popped off. The girl's heartbeat sped up even more and the man laughed.

"Liked that? Then how's this?" he asked as he yanked the blanket off the girl and spread it out on the floor. "You know," he said musingly as he stood over her, "this is usually where the scantily clad teenager in her pajamas runs away, only to be hunted down and murdered messily by the killer. What's the matter little girl? Are you too stupid? Are you in a coma? You're really taking the fun out of this. I've been looking for you for six years, you know that? Six long friggin years since you and that little bitch sister of yours got away, and this is how it ends? Pathetic," he said, lightly slapping the girl's face. "Good thing that idiot vampire showed up when she did though," he said as he eyed the girl on the bed for a moment. "I was getting ready to risk going through the barrier myself, but she showed up at just the right time to distract it." He scooped the girl up and unceremoniously dumped her on the floor and rolled her up in the blanket. "Damn shame," he said as he hoisted her up and threw her over his shoulder. "I kinda wanted to play with your sister a bit, see how long it'd take 'er to die. It's been a while since I could really play with a human, you know? Demons just can't get a break anymore..." he said with a sigh and a regretful shake of his head, moving through the house as he talked.

He stepped out through the front door, careful to pull it shut after him, and trotted down the steps and up the street until he disappeared from view around a corner.

* * *

><p>Maple birdsong turned off the sidewalk to walk the short distance to the house she shared with her sister. It wasn't much, but the two of them didn't need much, and she didn't want to impose on anyone. It wasn't that she didn't trust anyone here, it was more that she just didn't want to drag anyone else into their problems; she had made that mistake six years ago in America, and look what it had gotten the last group of people to help her? None of them were listed in the phone book anymore, that was for sure.<p>

She moved up the steps onto the front porch and pulled out her keys. She was so distracted by the vampire incident and the feeling of dread she had been suffering from for the past few weeks that it took her a moment to notice that her doorknob was gone, nothing but the round hole in the door where it used to be gave any hint of its existence.

Maple's blood ran cold. "T...Trinity? Trin? A-are you there?" she said, the awful silence of the house was the only response. "T-Trin?" she asked again as her voice cracked. She pushed the door open and looked down at the broken pieces of her doorknob as a sense of disbelief washed over her. '_This can't be happening,' _ she thought faintly. '_I'm just dreaming again; the demons couldn't have found this place and taken her, there's no way.'_ She was dimly aware that her mind had started to retreat to a faraway place to protect itself, leaving little but her senses behind. As such, she could see every little detail of what the intruder had done in startling clarity, from the discarded can of beans to the jug of water splashed across the floor to the door of the refrigerator, left standing open by the wall.

She refused to look at the empty doorframe that lead to the bedroom. Instead, she wandered over to the bathroom, where medicine bottles, trash, and bits of broken mirror lay strewn over the floor and the fallen shower curtain.

"This can't be happening," she mumbled aloud as she stumbled back out of the bathroom and the empty doorframe caught her attention. Her face went even more pale than usual as she saw the empty bed where her sister should have lain. "N-no, no Trin, y-you can't...you can't..." She let out a low whine as her legs gave out and she plopped down on the floor next to the empty can of beans as she stared through the empty doorway at her sister's bed. "N-n-no, th-they can't have taken you, they _can't_..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Damn. Ah, anyway...let's see... Ah! Cocone; how underused you are in fanfiction. Anyway, if you're wondering what the 'Empire Immigration Plan' is, I got it from a place in the manga when she is given the title "Empire Immigration Plan Test Subject #18". As it's never explained in the manga, I'll give my version (influenced heavily by online speculation): Cocone's at least half human (possibly full) and a test subject from the Hellas Empire in the magic world, sent to Earth to find out whether the citizens of the empire will be able to immigrate in the event that Mundus Magicus collapses. Keep in mind that since Negi's group never went to Mundus Magicus in the summer of 2003 in the Still Waters universe, the situation there was never addressed and even though Cosmo Entelecheia's plan was stopped long before it became a threat by the coincidental appearance of Jack Rakan at the right place and time, it's still a very real danger._

_Also, Takahata and the teachers and faculty who took part in the defense of Mahora in the festival arc of the manga! I always picture Seruhiko as a sort of Richard Hammond (from Top Gear) kinda guy who tries too hard. Or something._

_Also also, I finally gave some information on the Great Vampire Lords! Aren't you happy? Or not... Misora fought Dexter Marlowe the short story "How To Fight Zombies" on this site, and fought Chaser Felix during "Misora's Arc" in SW3 Book 1, also on this site._

_What else...oh, the demon. His brother was one of the antagonists of "Misora's Arc" in SW3 Book 1, and he himself appeared earlier in this book, in Chapter 6: Festival First Day Part 2: Siblings. As for what happened to Trinity, well...you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?_

_At this point there are four more chapter estimated for Book 2, though that number could always increase if something needs to be added or a chapter gets too big and needs to be split. Look forward to Book 3!_


	27. Intermission: Ako Imprisoned

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 23.5, Ako Imprisoned**

* * *

><p><em>The Magic Eater walks a razor's edge; one wrong step will lead to ruin and death.<br>_

_Subject Izumi Ako, Sophie's Dream Journal_

* * *

><p>Izumi Ako opened her eyes, and couldn't help but sigh. Above her was the same stone ceiling she had been waking up to for the past two weeks. The bed she had been sleeping in was quite comfortable at least; but then again, she supposed that was to be expected in a room as well furnished as this one, even if it did amount to little more than a fancy prison cell. She turned her head to look at her jailer, seated in his chair with his back to the heavy wood door. He was a very big man, easily as tall as Max-sensei but <em>bigger<em>. Seeing him seated there in that chair with his arms crossed and his head inclined forward, one might think he was slow and fat; Ako knew different.

Her first escape attempt had been thwarted when he had opened the door, spotted her trying to climb outside, and darted across the room and grabbed her by the wrist before she could lower herself out through the window to attempt the perilous climb down the thousand-foot cliff face below and the mountainside below that to the narrow strip of rocky beach far, far below between the the base of the mountain and the sea. He had held her dangling outside the window by her wrist for a good thirty seconds, watching her, as if saying the only reason she wasn't splattered across the mountainside was due to _his_ intervention. Ako, for her part, had met his eyes the whole time, giving him a no-nonsense glare that her friends back home would have been shocked to see her make. After _that_ incident, she had been moved up to one of the tower rooms with, she had noted upon first being thrust into it, barred windows and solidly made floors, walls, and ceilings. The door was of heavy wood, warded against rot, and while the windows were small, she could have squeezed through them if not for the thick, solidly set metal bars that crossed them. And, while the furniture was quite nice in a massive, overbuilt sort of way, there was not a single thing that wasn't bolted to the floor short of the blankets and pillow on the bed, the clothes folded in the drawers, and the tableware she was given when it was time to eat; even the chair at the table was attached to the floor...! The only loose piece of furniture was the big man's chair, and he always took that with him when he left the room. Her 'Magic Eater' ability was useless, as well...the big man seemed to be immune to its effects, and even though servants came and went, thus far he had been the only one watching her.

She had considered trying to break the big mirror attached to the chest of drawers opposite the table, but Ari Sigurd, the man sitting in the chair by the door, was present almost all the time, and she didn't think he would take any threats involving broken glass well.

"Turn around," she said. Ari promptly stood up and turned his wide back to her, his arms still crossed as she climbed out of bed. She glanced back at him to make sure he wasn't looking, then quickly gathered some clothes from the dresser and changed out of the pajamas she had been given to wear. The clothes they had given her weren't anything special, or even weird; they were just...clothes, like what she commonly wore back in Japan, if a little less fashionable: a pair of pants, a plain t-shirt, and undergarments. She hadn't expected to find such normal clothing in a castle, especially since the few people she had seen other than Ari tended to wear simple clothing without decoration, stuff that looked almost like it had been made on-site. "I'm changed," she said. Ari turned around and sat back down in his chair.

"Is Rale around?" she asked. Rale, the boy she had met at the festival, had seemed nice enough when she first met him, if awkward. '_Wait, scratch that...he's INCREDIBLY awkward,' _Ako thought to herself as she recalled their little get-together the day after they met. Misa, Madoka, and Sakurako had all called it a date, but it wasn't! It _really_ wasn't! Ako wouldn't ask a younger boy out on a date... She felt her face turning red and turned her back on Ari so he couldn't see.

"Initiate Rale has other duties this morning," Ari replied.

"Oh," Ako said. The room again fell into silence, and she sighed as she moved over to the window. Rale was the only one she had met in this place so far who didn't look at her as if she was some rare species of unicorn or something; he had even tried to help her escape at the end, before she had been captured by that other big man. She paused, wrinkling her brow in thought. _'What was his name...? Cort? He seemed like a normal person too; so what's with all these others?'_

The few other people she had seen here were weird, all looking at her as if alternating between adulation and terror; from what she could gather, they seemed to be some sort of cult...one that, for whatever reason, had chosen her for...what? Worship? Sacrifice? She shivered; both options were terrifying, each in their own way. She quickly turned her mind toward another subject.

The castle she had been taken to was quite large, easily bigger than even Himeji Castle back home in Japan, though it was more like something she'd have expected to see in medieval Europe than Japan, with its tall stone towers and massive walls. While her old room had given her a view of the sea, the new room she had been given in the tower allowed her to view the enormous main courtyard of the castle as well as the walls. From what she could see, there was a series of high walls protecting the main structure of the castle, with open areas of varying sizes between them, depending on the mountain's terrain. If she put her head up against the bars on the right side of the window, she could just barely see part of a winding mountain path on the other side of the furthest wall; to get an army up that path wouldn't be easy, especially one big enough to assault such a monstrous castle. The castle boasted quite a sizable defense force as well. Ako should know; she watched them training in the courtyard below to break up the monotony between visits by Rale, who seemed to be so low ranking here that he was treated like a servant, bringing her meals or dropping off bundles of clean clothes. Rale was the only person she had met since her arrival here that actually seemed capable of holding a conversation with her; while Cort had seemed like a normal person, she hadn't seen him since her capture, and she sort of got the idea that they wouldn't have anything in common to talk about, even if they did meet up again. Ari was out of the question; he would only respond to questions with a direct answer, killing any chance of conversation before it could even start. Rale, on the other hand...Rale was just a normal boy, one she knew distressingly little about. Why had he come to Mahora with the rest of the group that had captured her? Why wasn't he as...as _reverent_ as the rest of the cultists? Why had he even joined up with this bunch of weirdos, anyway?

Ako shook her head to clear it. The whole thing was getting ridiculous; maybe it was time to take a chance. Taking a deep breath to quell her nervousness, she turned and looked directly at Ari. "Mister Sigurd," she said sharply, trying her best to copy the tone Ayaka used when ordering others around. The man seated on the chair just _looked_ at her, waiting.

Ako took a deep breath. "I want you to bring Rale to me _right now,_" she said, more forcefully than before.

Ari cocked an eyebrow. "Initiate Rale has other duties this morning," he repeated. "He has to make up for his mistakes."

Ako blinked. Ari had given her...an explanation? His responses had only ever been single sentence answers with no elaboration. What had changed...? The way she had spoken? She steeled herself for another go.

"Mister Sigurd!" she said sharply, almost barking the words. To her surprise, he visibly stiffened, watching her warily.

"Yes?" he said.

Ako stifled the smile that tried to form. Ari Sigurd had never asked her a single question before this! "I _command_ you to bring Rale to this room _now_!" she bellowed at him, pointing for emphasis even as her voice cracked slightly as the end. She tried to ignore it, clenching her fists nervously as she tried her best to stare down a man three times her size.

And it _worked_.

"Very well; I will return," he said as he stood up from his chair. Ako fought back a shiver of delight as he almost forgot his chair and had to turn back and get it before he opened the door...and then the door closed behind him and he was gone.

'_Well that answers one question...it's probably worship,'_ Ako thought to herself. She wasn't comfortable with the idea, not at all, but it was infinitely better than being sacrificed to some dark god she had never even heard of. And hey, now she would even have someone to talk to...! Ako smiled; Rale seemed like a good boy, even if he was in bad company. And even though she couldn't escape on her own at the moment, there was always the chance of an unexpected opportunity showing itself at just the right time, not to mention the fact that, should she not be able to escape, her friends would come after her...of that she had no doubt. It would just be nice if she could escape first and save them the trouble, not to mention keep them out of danger... But in any case, until then, she would cause these people so much trouble they couldn't _wait_ to give her away...! She smiled deviously as she started working out various ways of causing them trouble. Now, finally, she had a way of putting all that experience in dealing with Misa and Sakurako's pranks to good use...!

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: So, I figured it would probably be a good idea to give the readers a clue as to what's going on with Ako since her kidnapping at the festival. Yep, a bunch of cultists kidnapped her and shut her up in a huge mountaintop fortress in Mundus Magicus; the exact location and what exactly these people want is still a mystery, however. We'll just have to see what happens from here, shall we?_


	28. Ch 24 Catching Up

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 24: Catching Up**

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><p><em>This chapter rated T for violence and ogling<strong><br>**_

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><p><em>Wednesday, July 15th, Midday<em>

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><p>Nodoka paused in front of the apartment complex and looked up at the side, about where she thought the set of rooms used by Akira, Max, and Jennifer were located. It was a fairly cheap place, about the level of her own, really, and laid out in much the same manner. Still... She moved up to the front door and hesitated. Jennifer had asked her over to watch a movie like they used to do before Nodoka and Yue left for Tibet with Negi the year before, but...she couldn't help but be a little nervous. She had never really understood the way Jennifer thought, the way she made the decisions she made, the way she decided what to do next. She always seemed so...so <em>sure<em> of herself, especially in matters relating to Max and Akira.

Nodoka was _just_ _a little _jealous; she wanted to be that open and sure with Negi, and the only way she could gain any information to work with was through rebuilding her friendship with Jennifer. She felt a little bad about her ulterior motive, but she really did miss watching movies with the woman the way they used to when she was still in high school...Jennifer had always seemed happy to have her around over the years, and Nodoka had always had fun; she just wished she could have gotten Yue to come with her this time, but the other girl was busy with the Special Defense Unit making some tweaks to the barriers after the incident the night before when they were all in the resort brushing up on their skills and working with the new kids, when a vampire entered the city without making an appointment first and caused some sort of trouble. Nothing had come of it and no one had been hurt as far as Nodoka had been told, but the theory and magic circle arrays behind the barrier needed to be fine tuned, and since Yue had been the one to pull the current barrier system together and actually get it working—a barrier system that, according to the accepted knowledge on barriers and the methods she had used, shouldn't work at all—it was up to her to fix it. Nodoka smiled at the thought of her friend. Yue's usual laziness in studying didn't extend to anything related to magic; the other girl was fascinated by complex magical systems, and could often be found hard at work with page after page full of complicated equations that made Nodoka's head hurt just to look at.

"What am I doing?" Nodoka said aloud. _'Wasting time, that's what. Come on Nodoka, she a friend!_' she thought to herself. She shook her head to clear it and entered the apartment building.

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><p>A man seated in the back of a cab fumbled with an unlit cigarette as he watched the top of a truly enormous tree growing closer by the second. He was almost there...<p>

The man who had for years been best known as Byron the Water Mage let out a tired breath and tried to ease his aching bones into a more comfortable position on the seat. His lower back twinged and he winced, drawing in a quick breath as he quickly readjusted his position. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath. He had never hurt like that until the day the sudden feedback from the link being severed had made him collapse at work...it had been _days_ before he got out of the hospital. "Dammit girl! Why'd you have to go and get yourself kidnapped...?" he muttered again.

"Excuse me sir, are you alright?" the driver asked, glancing at him in the rear view mirror.

"I'm not, but it's nothing to worry about," Byron replied, his language translation spell taking care of the language barrier without the cab driver even noticing. "Just get me where I need to go, that's all."

The driver watched him a moment longer, clearly troubled by his passenger's odd behavior, before turning his attention back to the road. That was fine, as far as Byron was concerned. He settled into as comfortable a position as he was able to find and continued to watch the big tree as it got closer.

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><p>"How long are you planning to stay?" the young woman asked, clearly bored half out of her mind at being assigned desk duty.<p>

Byron tilted his head gave her his best grin. "Just a few days; I've never been in this town before; do you know anywhere I could stay...?"

The girl loosened up a little and made a small grin herself. "Mahora is home to many fine hotels and inns. If you need help, there is a phone book on the table," she said, smiling at him as she tilted her head cutely.

Byron grinned wider and shook his head. '_Failed again; damn. Oh well, she looks pretty good...it was worth a try, anyway.' _"Thanks. Do you need my I.D.?"

"Yes," the girl said. Byron dug his mage I.D. card out of his wallet and handed it over; the girl took it without comment, made a copy, and filled out a few more lines on the visitor form before handing it back. "Thank you, Mister-"

"Just call me 'Byron'," Byron said, leaning on the counter and grinning at her.

"Mister...'Byron'...okay then! Here are your papers. If you decide you need to stay longer, please return to this office and ask for an extension on your stay. If you fail to do this, you will be in violation of article nine of the Mage's Code, which dictates—"

Byron let the girl drone on about the various mage travel laws and the punishments for breaking them, as was required of her by, yet again, various mage laws. He heaved a sigh, breaking his flirty facade. The whole 'Mage's Code' deal had become a real pain in the last fifteen years... '_Listen to me, thinking like an old man. I'm only forty! I swear, if my hair hadn't gone gray after that girl got herself kidnapped...'_ Byron heaved another sigh. He was finding his old womanizing ways didn't work so well now that he had aged twenty years virtually overnight. '_Dammit girl, you're taking all the fun out of my life!' _Well...fun of _that_ particular sort, anyway. He sighed; his hair had gone straight past the salt-and-pepper stage he had been so looking forward to and into that terrible lifeless shade of gray he had always dreaded seeing in the mirror, all because that girl he had saved all those years ago decided to jump ship to the other world and give him a heart attack. Or three. Not to mention the blood pressure and near-failure of various really important organs. Even his eyesight was going bad! Great. Juuust great. Meanwhile, the girl at the desk had been droning on for several minutes about mage laws; he turned his attention back to her just as she finished.

"Do you understand the rambling and incoherent laws I just finished reading from these index cards?" the girl asked using the same professional tone she had used during her recitation of the laws.

Byron grinned crookedly; the girl may not have invited him into her bed, but he found that he liked her anyway. He peered at the nametag attached to her shirt, taking a moment to leer in a manner he had found girls her age tended to find amusing from someone like him, and looked up to meet her eyes. '_Nice. _Very _nice...' _"Sakurako, huh? That's a good name; it fits you. Yes, I understand the rambling and incoherent laws you just finished reading from those index cards," he said, all seriousness as the girl snickered. "Hey, you don't suppose..." he trailed off as the girl beamed at him, but shook her head. "No, I thought not. Hey, it was worth a try," he said, giving her a winning grin.

"Good luck Mister Byron," the girl said as she handed over his papers. "Don't have too much fun~!"

Byron raised a hand in farewell and exited the registration office to find himself standing alone on a sidewalk, watching the locals walk by. He put his sunglasses back on. '_What to do, what to do...well, I suppose I should look up our current agent for this city..._'

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><p>"And that is how you make a CD player into a phaser," Margaret Gunther, janitor for Mahora Girls' Middle School, first round loser of the Mahora Festival Martial Arts Tournament, and agent of the American Division said as she held up the laser device in question. It didn't have enough power to do much more than burn a piece of paper a little before the batteries ran out of juice, but that was beside the point. The point, in her mind, was that having a Start Trek style phaser was freaking <em>cool<em>.

"Well, if it isn't the biggest nerd in Omaha," Byron said, grinning as he winked at the woman.

"Ah...maybe you should go, Mari," Margaret said as she ushered the girl she had made the phaser for out of the Janitor's Office. She shut the door, paused to take a deep breath, then whirled on him. "What the _hell_ are you doing here, Byron? You're supposed to be in the hospital! What would happen to all the new kids back home if something happened to you? And this is a girls' middle school! What if someone saw you sneaking in?"

Byron cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what are you trying to do, turn another innocent kid into a trekkie? Nice going by the way, teaching her to make laser weapons before she's in the tenth grade."

"This is Japan, remember? You mean 'before she's a first year in high school'," Margaret snapped back. She heaved a sigh and swept the rest of the CD player she had just dissected into a trash can and sat down on a stool. "What are you doing here, Byron? I don't think you've got enough pull with the higher ups to get them to agree to send you to do _anything_ in your condition if someone else could do it instead."

"'In my condition'?" Byron repeated. "You make it sound like I'm pregnant!" Margaret just _looked_ at him, so he relented. "Okay, so my back's killing me from the plane ride over and I look like I aged half my life in a few weeks, but still. I'm the only one who has all the information, but I _do_ need some help. Do you know where Max lives?"

Margaret eyed him uncertainly for a moment before answering. "...it's probably best if you don't involve him in whatever you're doing."

Byron shook his head. "I have to; it involves him directly. Him and Rikki and Guy, and guess which one of the three is still alive?"

Margaret went white as a sheet. "...he lives in an apartment here in town. Byron...Jennifer lives there with him."

Byron went a little pale at that, himself. "J...Jennifer, huh? Well I don't think it could get much worse than that, could it?" he said, trying to sound light-hearted but coming across more as nervous.

Margaret sighed. "She's not the only one there, Byron. Okochi Akira lives there too."

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><p>Byron leaned against the side of a building, one hand fumbling with an unlit cigarette as he watched the apartment building across the street. He knew Max's apartment number and was even pretty sure he had worked out its location in the building, and yet he hesitated to go closer.<p>

True, his first reaction when he learned that his old pal Max was currently living with not one, but _two_ women was one of jealousy; having a harem of his very own had always been _his_ dream, not Max's. Max had only ever seemed to care about Rikki, up until she died and the American Division saddled him with the psycho instead. And now he got to live with two women? Where was the justice in _that_? Admittedly, one was a total psycho and the other was capable of destroying a city if she got mad, but still!

Where was justice in the world...?

'_Might as well get this over with,'_ he thought to himself. He heaved a sigh, shook his head to clear it, and did a few stretches to limber up in case he had to run. He shook his head ruefully.

"Now what did I just think to myself? Idiot," he said aloud. He glanced both ways, then trotted across the street as fast as his aching bones would let him and headed for the steps. He had to pause a moment halfway up to catch his breath. "_Damn _I'm getting old..." he muttered, bending over as he leaned against a bit of safety railing. As he straightened up, something in his back popped and he cursed under his breath again.

It took him a moment, but he worked his way up the remaining stairs and soon entered the building's lobby, where two choices awaited him: the stairs, or the elevator. Cursing under his breath about the necessity, he hobbled over to the elevator, glaring at a young man who appeared ready to offer him assistance, and pressed the button. "I'm not _that_ old yet," he muttered to himself as he waited for the elevator to arrive.

It had been a rough couple of weeks for Byron; when his connection with the girl had been abruptly cut off, the feedback had almost killed him. Actually had, in fact...he had been told his heart had stopped for two minutes during the trip to the hospital, and he had suffered through a short series of heart attacks immediately upon resuscitation. After that had come the extreme magical wear on his body as the steady flow of magic it had produced for the past twelve years or so, first feeding the girl's recovery and later something else, suddenly had nowhere to go and quickly built to insanely dangerous levels until the team of specialists working on him managed to halt the buildup. The end result was a forty year old man who looked sixty and felt like he was approaching eighty. He had been assured that a good portion of the damage would heal with time and the special magic treatments he had been prescribed, but he would never again enjoy the good health and youthfulness he had been blessed with for most of his life, nor would his hair ever regain its black luster. He heaved a sigh; his advances on the female sex since the incident had been uniformly laughed off, and he had jokingly been called a 'dirty old man' several times...it was quite a blow to his pride. The massive, _massive_ magic capacity he had built up over years of channeling magic 24/7 was nice, but still...

His dreams of building his own harem were further away than ever.

Byron heaved another sigh just before the elevator beeped, signaling its arrival. The door opened, and he hobbled into the elevator, favoring his left leg.

One short elevator ride later, Byron hobbled out of the elevator and made his way along the open walkway that ringed every floor of the building, finally pausing in front of a particular apartment door with his hand on the doorknob.

'_I _really _don't want to do this...'_ he muttered. He took a deep breath to prepare himself, let it out, took another, let that one out, and was on the verge of taking a third when the doorknob turned under his hand. He had no time to react as a tiny blur buried its foot in his gut and he doubled over; the next thing he knew, something grabbed his head and arm and he hit the floor inside the apartment on the back of his head, his whole body protesting at its rough treatment, and then something came down on his neck, holding his head down with uncomfortable pressure. He very—_very_-carefully brought his hand up and took off his sunglasses, looking from the shoe pressed down on his neck to the rather shapely calf and up the equally shapely leg to where the thigh disappeared into a short pair of shorts, then up to the shorts themselves and the hips they covered, where his gaze paused for an instant before moving up the flat stomach to the woman's small breasts, where his gaze lingered again before finally moving up to her face, and the scarily blank expression it held.

"...nice to see you too, Jennifer..." Byron croaked.

The woman didn't respond.

"...though I must say I'm not really into this sort of thing; I mean it's been years since we last saw each other and I haven't even bought you a drink yet—ow! Hey! Urgh! _Urk!_" The woman let him flail for a moment before releasing some of the pressure on his neck.

"Why are you here, Byron?" she asked, her voice as cold as the Yukon in winter.

Byron had to gasp for breath before he could answer. "It's about Max! Max and—gargh!"

Jennifer let him suffer for a long, long moment before releasing just enough pressure to let him breath again. "If you're here to hurt him..." she said, letting her voice trail off. When he managed to catch his breath again, Byron shivered. '_Forget the Yukon, she's as cold as freaking _space_...!'_

"I'm not!" Byron gasped out.

Jennifer let up a little more pressure, but not anywhere near enough to let him escape, not in his condition. "How do you expect me to believe you, after all you people have done to him?"

"B-believe me! Believe me!" Byron pleaded. '_Dammit you psycho, quit stomping my neck...!' _He didn't think actually saying that last part out loud would have any sort of positive effect on the current situation however, so he refrained from speaking it aloud. It didn't stop him from thinking it, however, along with all sorts of other unpleasant words.

Jennifer looked away from him and he realized for the first time that there was someone else in the room. She was pretty, in a simple kind of way; she looked timid, however, as if the current situation was a little out of the norm for her. It seemed, then, that unless Okochi Akira had undergone some serious plastic surgery and shrunk about six inches, that Max had somehow gained a third member to his harem. Bastard. Byron wasn't particularly surprised when she pulled out a pactio card.

"Adeat."

"Shit..." Byron muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Jennifer asked, putting more pressure on his neck.

"Urk! Nothing, nothing!" he said, taking the opportunity to check her out again when her attention went back to the other girl. '_This is actually a _really _good angle...' _he thought as he peered up at her. _ 'Man, she really DOES have nice legs...! Just the right sort of athletic, without going overboard. ...still not nice enough to make me forget the minor detail that she's a complete psycho, though. Man...Max must be pretty desperate.'_

"Stop that," she said, pressing down on his neck again.

Byron spluttered and gagged until she released some of the pressure again. "Dammit woman! Don't _do_ that!"

"Stop looking at me like that," Jennifer growled, fire in her eyes as she glared down at him.

"Fine, fine, I'll stop," he said, then took the first chance he had when she looked back to the other girl to ogle like there was no tomorrow.

"What's his name?" the pretty girl said as she held the book she had summoned.

'_And that would be...what was her name...Madoka?' _Byron thought. '_No no no, Madoka's the butch one. Nodoka! That's it! And that must be her mind reading artifact...' _"Er...Can you by any chance _not_ tell her...?" he asked. In response, Jennifer pressed down on his neck again. "Urk. Thought so..."

"Sydney Byron Babcock," she said as she turned to look back down at him. Luckily, he caught the motion of her head in time and looked away from her body before she could see him looking.

Byron winced at the mention of his full name. There were two good reasons he commonly went by 'Byron the Water Mage' instead of his real name; one was 'Sydney', and the other was 'Babcock'. He let out a sigh, waiting for the inevitable storm of laughter. To his surprise, it didn't come. Evidently, the inherent humor in the name his parents had saddled him with didn't cross the language barrier, though with the way Jennifer was smirking down at him, she knew it bothered him.

"He's telling the truth," Nodoka said. "And...and he thinks you have really nice legs," she said, her face turning red as she turned her book to show Jennifer the detailed images drawn in the book.

Byron tried to smile placatingly, but Jennifer ignored him and continued to look at the book, her eyes running back and forth as she read the text being presented. Finally, she heaved a sigh and removed her foot from his neck and stepped back, giving him space to stand up.

"Make this quick," she said, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

Byron took his time getting up not out of spite or any intention of being contrary, but because his body was aching all over. When he was finally up on his feet again, he leaned backward until his back popped, then heaved a sigh of relief. "Damn that felt good," he muttered. He turned his attention to the two women. "The way my back popped, not your foot on my neck," he said, raising an eyebrow as he eyed Jennifer. He turned his attention to Nodoka. "I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself yet," Byron said, putting on his best suave smile for Nodoka as he held out a hand. "I'm Byron the Water Mage, but you can me Byron," he said, pouring on the charm.

"A-ah...I'm Miyazaki Nodoka," she replied, gingerly taking his hand. He grabbed her hand and shook it; she quickly shrank back out of reach when he released it.

'_Damn, failed again.' _"So," he said, looking at Jennifer. "What, no hug? It's been years since we saw each other last!" Jennifer just crossed her arms and stood there, giving him The Look. She had always been good at that; probably had something to do with being a total psycho.

"Make. It. Quick." Jennifer said, something in her voice telling him that any more foolishness would be a very bad idea indeed.

"Fine," Byron said as he sat down in a nearby chair to let his sore knees rest. He glanced over at Nodoka again and saw her eyes glued to her book, no doubt reading every stray thought that crossed his mind. He sent a couple thoughts of the more interesting sort her way, and grinned when her face reddened. "First off, I'm not here to arrest, attack, kill, ogle, or bother anybody, all right? Those last two are just bonuses; I think I've earned the right, after what I've been through the last two weeks."

Byron took in a sharp breath as Jennifer's gaze sharpened immediately. "What _about_ the last two weeks?" she asked, something incredibly dangerous in her tone.

Byron sighed and rubbed his forehead. This wouldn't be pleasant. "Do you see the way I look? This hair was black last month without a sign of gray; _now _look at it! Do you see these wrinkles? Did you notice the way I move? Jennifer, I've aged _decades _in two weeks! It's a miracle I'm alive at all!"

Jennifer frowned, though her eyes softened a little. "What is this about?" she finally asked.

Byron sighed. "This is about a girl named Izumi Ako, and what happened on a mission twelve years ago."

Jennifer's frown deepened as she watched Byron for a long, long moment, then turned to Nodoka. "Please call the others; I think they should hear this."

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><p><em>Twelve years ago...<em>

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><p>Twenty-year old Max Linell, fire mage and agent of the American Division, stood with his squadmate and long-time rival, Guy Sculler. They were positioned on the ground floor of a building opposite the office building where the terrorist cult had holed up, waiting for the signal to move.<p>

Other teams were set up in the same building and the surrounding area; there were eight in all, but Able Squad, the one Max and Guy were part of, was to lead the infiltration.

The cultists had kidnapped a group of visiting Japanese tourists, claiming, according to various listening devices, that a certain young girl among the group was some prophesied ruler or something like that. Max didn't particularly care about that at the moment, however; what bothered him was something different: they had Rikki. She had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had been scooped up with the Japanese tourists.

Max and Guy and Rikki had known each other as long as they could remember, even back to the days when they were all taken care of by Father Brian, before he died. Max and Guy both loved her, but she only had eyes for Max...a source of tension between Max and Guy. Normally, such a personal situation would have resulted in the two of them being assigned to something else, but both Max and Guy were well known for their professionalism while on the job, regardless of how they behaved off the clock. It helped that their old friend Marlin had acquired enough pull with the higher ups in the American Division to pull some strings to get them put on the mission; it also helped that they were among the best agents available at the time and worked together all the time.

The recon and espionage teams had the office building mapped out, down to the room in which the cultists were hiding the prisoners. Everything was planned out down to the last detail; all that was left was to break in, catch or kill the cultists, and save the prisoners. It should have been simple.

It wasn't.

The first cultist they came across was a freckled woman a few years older than they were who obviously had no clue how to deal with an enemy attack. She just gaped at them until Guy, always deadly serious during a mission, cut her down before she could alert anyone else. Normally, Max would have protested such an action. Not on that day, not with Rikki held prisoner. The woman's dumbfounded expression would haunt his dreams for years to come, but at the time he counted her as an enemy combatant; judging by the wand and pactio card she carried, that was exactly what she was, even if she hadn't managed to bring them into play. A man, the woman's pactio partner they would later learn, bellowed in rage in another room as his pactio partner died, and everything fell apart as the cultists rushed into action.

The situation rapidly deteriorated from an infiltration and hostage rescue into a bloody free-for-all as both sides battled for control of the first floor of the building, claiming a room only to be forced out of it by an attack from a side entrance a moment later. The floorplan made the place seem like a maze, and in the chaos of mage-to-mage battle in the tight confines of the office building, their elaborate battleplan fell apart.

Nevertheless, in the end, Max and Guy found themselves approaching the room where the prisoners were being held, with no sign of either enemy or ally until they went around a corner and stumbled right into a group of ten cultists. Max dove into a room to the right and Guy ducked into a hall to the left as the cultists attacked, magic arrows and magic binds flying until they were silenced by a deafening blast of thunder and a burst of swirling, hurricane-force wind. Max, already on his hands and knees, was bowled over as people shrieked in agony in the room he had just fled. Walls came apart, furniture furniture went flying, and the whole building shook as Guy's burst of elemental wind tried to rip it apart from the inside...and then it was over.

Max just laid on the floor under a piece of drywall for a moment, listening for any sign of movement from the enemies he had left in the other room, but he heard nothing, not a single moan or sob. He lurched out of his hiding place, a chill creeping over him as he looked around at the transformed office building. A large area, perhaps a hundred feet square, had been hollowed out by Guy's wind, leaving behind piles of debris and only those support beams strong enough to withstand the damage. There was no sign of the cultists. Guy stood in the middle of it, untouched, as he looked off toward Max's right. Feeling dead inside, Max turned to see what Guy was looking at, and saw, at the edge of the destruction, a room with with most of the wall torn off; inside was blood.

Heedless of the danger, Max lurched toward the room, limping on a leg he hadn't even noticed had been hit by a piece of debris, and staggered through the opening in the wall. He froze.

Inside, the room was coated in blood. Guy's wind had taken up every loose item in what appeared to be a room used as a supply closet and turned it into a meat grinder. A body lay by the far wall, flung with great force. Another lay half underneath a twisted shelf, arms and legs flung out in a grotesque manner. Still another lay crumpled in a corner, its head and neck at an impossible angle. The top of a particularly familiar head of pretty black hair poked out from under a pile of debris; Max stared for a moment. The sounds of battle restarted behind him as the mages and cultists began to stumble across each other again, but Max barely even noticed. How could he when Rikki might be dead, lying under that pile of debris...? The fate of the Japanese tourists didn't even cross his mind, not until later.

"R...Rikki?" he asked, barely able to get the word out.

The head of hair _moved_. There was a horrible gasping sound, but he ignored it as he started throwing debris off of the woman he loved.

"Rikki! Rikk-"

His voice cut off and he knelt there dumbly, a chunk of drywall held forgotten in his hand.

He saw blood. Lots of blood. Unbelievable amounts of blood. And...and guts. He felt his stomach lurch, and barely turned away in time before he vomited.

Rikki lay there, her arms wrapped tightly around a young pale-haired Japanese girl, perhaps six or seven, who was staring at him with wide, vacant eyes; blood poured from a horrible wound in her back. A distant, coldly logical part of his mind told him that this was probably the girl the cultists had been looking for, but he shunted that aside; he had eyes only for Rikki. Her dull gaze drifted over to him and sharpened, and she smiled despite the horrible wound in her stomach and the shocking paleness of her skin. He became aware that he was crying a moment later, and then she was weakly raising her hand toward his face, and he took it in his own.

"Rikki..."

"_Shit!"_ someone shouted nearby. Other people began shouting and Max realized he could no longer hear the sound of mages doing battle, but his mind quickly went back to Rikki. People began swarming around the two of them a moment later. Someone performed some sort of magic ritual with the little girl, then took her away, and still Max held Rikki's hand, felt it grow cold as her eyes lost their vibrancy, their _life_, and slowly glazed.

And over this scene stood Guy Sculler, watching dispassionately as the woman he, too, loved, died.

* * *

><p><em>Present Day...<em>

* * *

><p>"Oh my God..." Negi said, his face pale.<p>

Akira looked at Max, who stood off to the side, looking out the window. He didn't move, but he didn't let anyone see his face, either.

"That was terrible..." Asuna said, her face pale as she looked wide-eyed from Byron to Max and back. The story Byron had told, with occasional additions from Max, had been anything but what she had expected to hear. "The little girl was Ako?" she asked.

"That's right," Byron said, nodding.

"This cult...are they the ones who took Ako?"

Asuna turned to see Misa looking uncharacteristically serious as she waited for the answer to her question. Sakurako stood to her left, her perpetual smile gone, and Madoka stood to her right, expression closed off and fists clenched.

"They are," Byron said as he nodded and shifted his position to something a little more comfortable. "That girl was the one you all know as Izumi Ako, and the only reason she survived that wound is because Rikki performed an illegal ritual and bonded with her, supporting her life with her own."

"...she knew she didn't have much time left with that wound in her stomach," Max interjected, still looking out the window, "but she knew the girl could still be saved."

"That's right," Byron said. "She bonded her, and then she handed the bond over to _me_." The room fell silent as everyone present except Max looked at Byron.

"And when they came and took her again at the festival..." Negi said.

"The feedback from having that magic bond you've held for twelve years cut off nearly killed you," Misa provided.

"Got it in one," Byron said, smiling at the pretty young woman. She didn't return the smile. "Even with all the power I pumped to her in the early years, she was still sickly; from what I could tell from the information they gave me, she barely managed to pull through; she didn't become really _healthy_ until the last couple years. You have to understand, I was pumping magic to her constantly for twelve years; my body had gotten so used to it I couldn't cut off the flow on my own, and my magic capacity's so big now that they don't have anything that can really measure it correctly...they have to estimate. They say I'm probably the fifth strongest mage in history," Byron said, smirking a little. "All of that, and she took all that power in without a problem. There's something more to her than meets the eye."

"Why didn't she ever tell us any of this? I mean, we've all seen that scar on her back, but she never..." Misa said, trailing off as she seemed to realize something.

"Memory suppressing magic," Byron said. "Imagine growing up as a kid with _that_ sort of nightmare floating around in your head? She was in shock after the accident, not to mention the fact that her whole family was dead, so the people in charge took the opportunity to wipe her memory and gave her a bunch of pleasant memories of living with some perfect little family back here in Japan. The scar was explained away as happening in a car accident as a baby. As for her surrogate family, they had recently lost a child of a similar age to a vampire attack, and they were easily persuaded to raise her. I won't say it was right to manipulate the girl like that, but the alternative was unthinkable."

The room fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment as Ako's friends thought about what she had been through and what she was probably going through right then.

"This cult...do they have a name?" Negi asked.

"The Children of Gilgamesh," Max said, finally turning around. "They think they own the world."

"Literally," Byron supplied. "Something about how, since they're descended from Gilgamesh, who _did_ own the world, that it should belong to them; they just have to take it."

"So why do they want Ako?" Misa demanded.

* * *

><p><em>A Meeting Room, Deep Within the Mountaintop Fortress of Aradove in Mundus Magicus...<em>

* * *

><p>"...I'm sorry, could you repeat what you just said?" Ako asked, her mind racing as she carefully watched the group of seven men and women who sat before her in the council chamber she had been brought to. She felt that showing any sign of weakness in front of these men and women would be a very bad idea, indeed.<p>

"You are The Daughter," a woman with an aristocratic air said, repeating what she had spoken just a moment before. Ako thought she had heard one of the others call her 'Arlana', or something like that. "Destined to lead us to greatness, as foretold by the secret words of Gilgamesh himself, recorded by his most loyal scribe shortly before his death."

"That's-" Ako said, only to be abruptly cut off.

"You _are_ the Daughter," Ari Sigurd, the man who seemed to be her primary guard, said from beside her, his deep voice booming in the conference room.

"No," another man said. Ako thought he must have been important, since he sat in the center chair, which was raised slightly above the other six. "_She _is not the daughter. Remember your studies!" he said sharply. "She is merely a vessel; she _carries_ the daughter within her, and has since her birth. It is important to understand this; the vessel is not the same as its contents," he said. Ako didn't like the way he looked at her, as if she wasn't even a person, just some tool to be used and discarded... She focused on keeping her face from showing the fear he inspired in her. She forced herself to meet his eyes across the space between them, and held his gaze for a long, long moment before he nodded, apparently satisfied, and looked back at the sheaf of papers on the table before him, as he had throughout the meeting.

Evidently the man carried a lot of weight; the other people present, the two men and the woman in almost priestlike robes seated to his left and the man, woman, and elf—an elf! Ako couldn't help but stare at his pointy ears—seated to his right wearing more of a military-style uniform not unlike what the guards she had seen moving around always wore, all fell silent and waited, all but the elf watching him as if waiting for instructions. The elf simply watched _her_. Ako did her best to keep from shivering under that distant, searching gaze.

"When was the last time she was fed?" the elf asked suddenly.

"...are you stupid?" Arlana snapped at him. "We are discussing far more important issues here than whether anyone threw the urchin her slops today!" Ako watched curiously as the elf simply _looked_ at the woman, who bit her tongue and glared back. A few seconds later, she turned away, unable to continue. The elf wasn't like the woman; he didn't gloat over the minor victory. He simply turned the weight of his attention back on Ako, and she couldn't help but flinch. And she had thought staring down the important man in the middle was tough...! She felt like a piece of livestock being sized up.

"She appears thin and unnaturally pale, most likely malnourished; has anyone performed any sort of medical check on her?" he demanded, looking again at the others. Arlana continued to sulk while one of the robed men and the woman in the military uniform both looked a little sheepish, while the other robed man gave her a measuring look and the uniformed man seated next to the elf turned to smirk at her. "Has anyone even performed any scans to ensure she is free of disease?" The elf continued, becoming increasingly indignant.

"Peace, Beccan Bloodleaf," the important looking man said, his voice cutting through and causing the other humans to sit up straight and focus their attention back on the issue at hand. The elf nodded respectfully and sat back in his chair.

"She eats the food she is given," Ari said from his spot next to her in the silence that followed.

"As should be expected, Warden," the important man said as he straightened his papers. "You," he said sharply, looking at Ako. Ako met his gaze again and again managed to hold it. "Why did you request the presence of one of our initiates, a young man called 'Rale'? Are you hoping to woo him?"

Ako just blinked at the man, trying to get her brain working again. He thought she was trying to 'woo' Rale-kun? She hadn't ever thought of it that way, but she supposed she would be lying if she denied his question completely. She was still trying to formulate an answer when the man spoke again.

"You are free to do such a thing if you wish, Vessel. I am just curious as to why you would choose an initiate when there are others far more suited to one of your station. Rest assured, your existence as The Vessel will only continue until The Rebirth; we would never deny one so important and short-lived the earthly pleasures, if she so desired. You need only ask."

Ako felt her face growing hot and had to look away, her gaze sweeping toward a window so she wouldn't have to look at that man. She caught Arlana's smirk at her discomfort as she turned away. She knew it was rude to think such a thing after a first meeting, but she really didn't like that woman. She didn't like any of these people! It wasn't like she and Rale-kun were dating or anything! Really!

"I must warn you, however," the important man said, staring her down, "any attempts at using Initiate Rale in some ill-conceived escape attempt will result in a quick death for the boy, and your remaining freedoms greatly restricted. This fortress is built to be as inescapable as it is impenetrable; if you make an attempt, you _will _be caught. Do I make myself clear?" he demanded.

Ako looked the man in the eye, doing her best to appear as arrogant and regal as they seemed to think she was, and nodded.

The man nodded in return. "Very good. Warden, you may return her to her room."

"I do not follow orders from anyone but the daughter," Ari said from his spot just behind her. Ako looked back at him. His tone of voice had betrayed neither irritation nor arrogance; he had just stated a simple fact, one which the important man seemed to understand perfectly. She had already noticed the friction between the robed people and the uniformed people; was this a third faction...?

"I see," the man said. "We no longer require her presence." Ari nodded at that and took her by the arm. Doing her best to pretend to be an arrogant aristocrat, Ako jerked her arm away, stuck her nose in the air, and stalked to the door. She thought she heard Arlana snickering behind her, but trained her gaze on the door. Like every door in this place, it was built solidly of some heavy wood, decorated with simple lines except for the stylized image of a bull carved deep into the wood. She had seen that particular image everywhere in this place, from statues to paintings to carvings in the doors; she supposed it was the cult's symbol.

When the two of them were alone in the hallway, heading for Ako's prison in the tower, Ako paused, looking out through one of the many windows that lined the hall. "I want to see Rale," she said, her tone sharp, making it an order.

Ari grunted in acknowledgment, and the two continued on down the hall.

* * *

><p>Once in her room, Ako moved to stand by the window, doing her best to look bored while Ari sent a servant to fetch Rale. '<em>I can't let him know how much that meeting bothered me...'<em> she thought, eyeing the wide courtyard below. Any attempt to escape through the courtyard would be quickly spotted; many, many windows had a great view of it, and guards patrolled regularly. Climbing out of the tower was a no-go as well. On her trip back from the meeting, she had caught a glimpse of it through a window...the top of the tower where her prison cell was bulged out; if she were to somehow squeeze between the bars of her window and tried to climb down, she wouldn't have anywhere to put her feet, assuming she could even find any handholds in the brickwork. She thought she _might_ be able to climb down a rope, but after descending a certain distance she would hanging in the air with nothing to lean against until she was almost down to the ground. Trying to climb down a rope would be very difficult in itself, and she would run a very real risk of falling to her death; she had never really been an athletic person, not like her friends. Speaking of which...

Ako frowned, thinking. _'What would Madoka do?'_ That one was easy; Madoka would punch out Ari, kick down the door, and storm out, beating up anyone who got in her way. Misa would do the same, only with magic; she would also probably do her best to level the whole place, just because. Sakurako...she would pretend to seduce the people around her, then leave them tied up in closets or under beds while she skipped away, probably whistling one of the songs they wrote. Sakurako could use the same method of escape as Misa and Madoka, but Ako had no doubt she'd go the fake seduction route because she'd think it would be more fun.

The image that last thought brought to her mind was so amusing Ako couldn't help but let out an amused sound, immediately bringing Ari's attention back to her; he had remained in the room after sending the servant to get Rale, and currently sat in his usual chair, in his usual spot. Ako quickly schooled her features into a scowl and glared at the man for a moment. As always, he took her scowl and looked back at her until she turned back to the window. As much as she hated to admit it, that was actually pretty impressive; Ako had learned how to scowl from Eva herself.

Ako didn't know what to do about Ari; he was a bit of an enigma. His actions showed he was in charge of her, but during that meeting, he had said he only took orders from her, as if she was his boss. He seemed to get uncomfortable whenever she yelled at him, but she hadn't been able to get him to leave her alone in the room for several days; the only time he left her side was during trips to the bathroom, when a group of female servants watched her instead. She _still_ wasn't used to _that_ bit of awkwardness yet. A hesitant knock on the door brought her mind back to the present, and she looked up to see a servant open the door, allowing Rale to enter.

The boy was almost a foot taller than she was, his reddish hair contrasting with his light colored servant's clothes. Ako paused, cocking her head slightly. Rale's face was red. Was he...blushing? Ako felt her face start to go red as well and quickly looked out the window as the servant left, leaving her alone in the room with Ari and Rale.

Ako and Rale stood in awkward silence while Ari sat back down on his chair, which creaked under his weight. A long moment passed in silence while Ako looked out the window to keep from looking at Rale-kun. '_Am I going to do this or not?'_ she demanded of herself as she tried to work up the nerve. She clenched her fists and kept her eyes trained on the mountains outside her window.

"Rale-kun! Come here _now_!" The words came out more sharply than she had intended, and she caught sight of both Rale _and_ Ari jumping at her sudden order. Rale was by her side an instant later.

"Y-yes?" he asked, clearly confused about the situation. So confused, in fact, that he yelped when Ako abruptly turned to him, looked him in the eye, reached up to put her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss.

Three seconds passed where no one moved, and then Rale's hands fumbled their way around Ako until he held her in a tight hug as he clumsily tried to return the kiss.

Ari stared, watching from his chair, his eyes just a little wider than usual.

* * *

><p>An indeterminate amount of time passed as Ako kissed him. And kept kissing him.<p>

And _kept on _kissing him.

It was only when one of Rale's hands went a little too far down that she recalled what she had been trying to do by having Rale brought to her. Nevertheless, it took a supreme effort of will to muster the mental strength to break away from the kiss. It took a moment, but Rale seemed to sense her desire to stop and reluctantly broke away, his hands sliding down Ako's back and sides to her waist, where they came to rest naturally on her hips. The two of them found themselves staring into each other's eyes, and that was when Ako realized Ari was still watching them. She pushed herself away from Rale, her mind a chaotic whirl of emotions, and turned her fury on Ari.

"Get out! Get out get _out get OUT!"_ she bellowed at him, snatching up a pillow from the bed and throwing it at him with all the force she could muster.

Ari nearly stumbled over his chair on the way out.

When the door shut behind Ari and his chair, her legs almost collapsed under her as she stumbled into the side of the small table under one of the windows, leaning on it for support. Rale was there an instant later, hesitantly putting his arms around her again. Ako clung to him, letting her head rest against his chest while she tried to get herself thinking normally again. She hadn't counted on that kiss having that much of an effect on her; she had only been trying to get Ari out of the room...! Her heart was pounding...! As, she realized a moment later, was Rale's. Her eyes went wide as she realized what had just happened. She put her hands on his chest and gently pushed the two of them apart so she could look up at his face, and he reluctantly let go of his hug, again letting his hands move to rest on her hips. They stood that way a moment, looking at each other like two doe-eyed children, and then Rale moved back out of her reach.

"You..." he trailed off, seemingly barely able to speak as he looked off to the side. "Y-you did that t-to get him out of the room, right?" he asked, his wavering voice letting her know just how shaken he really was.

"I..." Ako's eyes widened as she realized just how shaken she was herself. She hadn't ever really kissed anyone before, not like _that, _anyway. There had been a couple of boys she had kissed back in high school, but they had both turned out to be creepy stalkers, and Madoka had taken care of them. Before that, she had kissed another boy, but they had both been children at the time, playing at being adults. None of those kisses had been _anything_ like this one... Ako shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. "I...I didn't know..." she mumbled to herself before shaking her head to clear it. "I'm sorry, Rale-kun. I really like you, but...you're right. I wanted him out of the room." Rale nodded, a resigned look on his face.

"You're...you're the first girl I ever kissed," he said hesitantly, turning away in an attempt to hide his face, which had gone completely red. Ako couldn't help but stare; the boy's reactions made her feel all warm and fluffy inside and, as always happened when she was around him, a little ashamed of herself for...doing what she had done. She was the older one, after all...she should know better than to take advantage of him like that...! She shook her head to clear it again.

"Rale-kun," she said. When she knew she had his attention, she continued. "I was just brought back from a meeting...do you know anything about it?"

Rale reluctantly met her gaze. "Can you describe it?"

* * *

><p><em>Ten minutes later...<em>

* * *

><p>Rale and Ako sat side by side on the edge of the bed, Rale listening as Ako finished her account of the meeting.<p>

"That sounds like the high council," Rale said, impressed. "And you were right, the priesthood doesn't get along with the councilmen; they say they're not devoted enough."

"So who are they?" Ako asked. She had been wondering about them...the more she knew about these people who had made themselves her enemies, the better she'd be able to deal with them. She didn't feel comfortable around anyone here but Rale; he was the only one she could ask these questions.

"Well..." Rale said, glancing at the door, no doubt wondering if they would be overheard.

"Go ahead," Ako said.

"The three members of the priesthood you saw were probably Arlana, Rudolph, and Peter. Arlana...well, you know about her; I don't know what she does other than boss people around. Rudolph is like a businessman more than a priest; I think he's in charge of the treasury, but I could be wrong. Peter is the head priest; he's an ex-thief, but he doesn't want anyone to mention it. He likes to pretend he's a good, law abiding person, but I've heard stories..." Rale trailed off, looking troubled for a moment before going on. "The council members you saw are Edie Blythe, Braden Xyrely, and the elf, Beccan Bloodleaf. Edie's in charge of spying and things like that; the servants pretty much all report to her. Braden's kind of strange...he seems all right, but I can't help but get nervous when he's around, you know?"

Ako nodded; she had been around people like that before. They almost always turned out to be _really_ bad.

"Braden's in charge of the guards and soldiers. Beccan Bloodleaf...I don't know what he's doing here, but he scares the _crap_ outta me," Rale said nervously. "Everybody says he'll kill someone at the drop of a hat, and I'm inclined to believe 'em."

"Who was the other man?" Ako asked. The important man who had sat at the center of the table, elevated above the others, had scared her even more than the elf.

"That was Regis," Rale said reluctantly. "He's the leader here. He keeps the others in line and makes sure this place runs smoothly. He...holds executions sometimes, to keep the rest of us from breaking the rules."

Ako sat silently for a moment, looking down at the floor. She wanted more information about them, but she knew Rale was telling her everything he knew...he was a lowly initiate, after all, and a young one at that. He was so strange...He was the youngest person she had seen here; everyone else she had seen looked at least five years older, and seemed completely loyal to the cult. She frowned and drifted off into thought.

"What are you humming?"

Ako jerked back to reality and looked over at Rale, then away. "It's a song I like," she said, faintly embarrassed as she looked over at the window. "It's called 'Drift Away'."

"Can you...can you sing it for me...?" he asked shyly.

Ako smiled and nodded her head.

* * *

><p>A haggard girl wearing wrinkled clothes who had gotten no sleep the night before slipped into the middle school and made her way up a stairwell, passing a few late students on the way. All it took was one glare and they shied away, allowing her to move past. She kept going until she reached the top floor, where she paused, looking at the final set of stairs. She climbed up them and stood before the door that led out to the roof. She paused a moment, trying to get her mind into some semblance of working order so she could face the one she would find there, and took a moment to straighten her clothes and push her overgrown bangs out of her eyes, but, as always, they fell right back, covering one eye.<p>

Maple Birdsong pushed the door open, and stepped out onto the roof.

The one she had been looking for was seated there on a bench, facing the door as she looked down, typing on her laptop computer. The light from the setting sun struck her from the side, leaving half her face in shadow as she looked up at Maple, waiting.

"A demon took my sister," Maple said, her voice hoarse.

"I know," Hasegawa Chisame said.

"I want her back," Maple said, her fists clenched as she stood there, her voice wavery with emotion.

"I know," Hasegawa Chisame said again as she looked back at her laptop, typed for a brief moment, then gently pushed it shut. She slipped the laptop into the bag beside her and stood up, facing her. She held out her hand. "Come with me."

For a brief moment, Maple hesitated, but the mental image of some _demon_ coming into their home and stealing her unresponsive sister away flared to life in her mind. She shook her head to clear it as indignation and rage took over, and she snarled.

She stepped forward without trepidation and took Chisame's hand, looking her in the eye. "You can take me there, right?"

Chisame met her glare easily, and a small grin stole over her face. "I canl take you _exactly_ where you need to be. Are you ready?"

Maple Birdsong, self-made outcast, guardian of her sister, and what would one day become one of the most terrifying forces to ever walk any of the worlds, nodded.

Chisame's eyes narrowed as her lips twisted into a knowing smile.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Keep in mind, Nodoka, here, never went to the Magic World in the summer of her third year of middle school. She never explored the ruins with the treasure hunting group, never fought Cosmo Entelecheia, never got forced to become self-reliant. In the Still Waters Universe, Nodoka stayed in Mahora resolving incidents with the rest of the class, growing stronger but relying on others to fill in the gaps when she found herself in over her head. She hasn't had the opportunities Manga Nodoka has had to prove herself, though she has had a lot more training in Eva's resort and has all but mastered her pactio artifact's possibilities for communication. Still, she has yet to prove to herself that she's not a burden. As for getting that chance in the future...well, a lot of characters will have to prove themselves in Book 3._

_As for Ako and that brief mention of 'Magic Eater', it's the ability she's had all her life which allows her to absorb, or 'eat' all kinds of power from the people around her, from magic to ki to youkai and demon power, and even something like 'life force'. If Ako was a ruthless murderer, she'd have freed herself already, but she's one of the most gentle members of the old class and hates hurting others, so in her cell she stays. Also, it seems The Warden, Ari Sigurd, who only takes orders from The Daughter, is immune to Magic Eater...interesting. Is this power what kept Ako alive for all those years through that link Byron had with her...? For a (very) little more information on Magic Eater, you can read Ako's part near the beginning of Chapter 11: Festival Second Day pt 4 Final Round of SW3: Book 2. You can also read about what happened to Byron when their connection was cut off in that chapter._

_As for Maple Birdsong, well...you'll just have to wait and see. "Most Terrifying Forces"...Heh, there are half a dozen "Most Terrifying Forces" featured in this chapter alone!  
><em>


	29. Ch 25 A Fox In Kyoto Part 1

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 25: A Fox in Kyoto, Part 1**

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, July 16th, Morning<em>

_Somewhere between Tokyo and Kyoto..._

* * *

><p>Endo Haru heaved a sigh as she looked out the bullet train's window, watching the landscape fly past. Her classmate Suzuki Keiko sat in the seat by the window, reading a book. Haru glanced over and read a few lines, but it seemed to be a really dry history book about Kyoto.<p>

Haru sighed again.

'_Why did I let Youko drag me into this...?' _she wondered to herself. She climbed up onto her seat and turned to look into the seat behind her; Youko looked up at her, her eyes bright as she grinned up at her.

"Need something?" Youko asked.

"The ability to _not_ let you run me over?" Haru asked, cocking an eyebrow. Youko laughed as if that was the funniest thing she'd heard all day and shook her head, then went back to chatting with her seatmate, a woman Haru was beginning to associate with nothing but trouble, the granddaughter of the headmaster, Konoe Konoka. Haru turned around and sat back down in her seat, settling in again as she looked back out through the window.

Kyoto...Haru was a little nervous about going back there; she would much rather have stayed safely in Mahora, where all those really strong people who defended the city could protect her from whatever tried to come and get her. Kyoto...? Haru didn't know anyone there at all. What would happen if she got lost, separated from the others? What would she do, all alone on the streets of Kyoto, so far from home?

She fumbled with the hem of her skirt as she sat in her seat; her worry over the fast-approaching incident she was sure would occur made her a nervous wreck. "...why did I ever get involved with her?" she muttered aloud. Stupid Youko...! Always dragging her off to do dangerous things...! Even after that fiasco at the Youkai Festival, where she was even forced to go so far as to have a _duel _with some big scary Red Fox youkai! It had been _terrifying_!

Of course, later on, on the last night of the festival, her next meeting with that Red Fox youkai had had an entirely different atmosphere and they had come away friends, but that was beside the point. Youko had led her from one disaster to another, from the incidents around the festival to the horrifically brutal training Eva had put her through in what everyone was calling her 'resort'. Ever since Youko had taken it into her mind to teach her how to be a 'proper youkai', her peaceful life in Mahora had become a nightmare.

Haru sighed a third time. This whole thing was such a pain in the-

"I'm back," Sakurazaki Setsuna said as she sat down in the aisle seat on Haru's left side. Haru muttered something in response and continued fumbling with the hem of her skirt, looking down at her knees.

"I thought you would be sitting with _her_," Haru said after a moment, glancing back toward the seat behind them, where Youko and Konoka were deep in conversation. She thought she _might_ understand what was going on between Konoka and Setsuna, but she couldn't be sure. Still, she knew it was strange for the two to be apart.

Setsuna smiled gently as she glanced back at Konoka, and shook her head. "No, not this time; those two have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah..." Haru said for lack of anything better to say. She was curious, though...Youko hadn't told her why she wanted the five of them to go to Kyoto; Haru had just assumed it was an attempt to get back to her roots, or something like that. She knew distressingly little about her Silver Fox youkai friend, but she _did_ know Youko had lived around Kyoto for a long time before getting locked away for a few hundred years. She glanced back at Youko, still deep in conversation with Konoka as the two pored over what looked like some kind of hastily sketched floor plan for a building. She turned back to the only person who probably knew what was going on. "Hey, Sakurazaki-san..."

"You can call me Setsuna," Setsuna replied as she looked across Haru and Keiko to look out through the window.

"Setsuna-san..." Haru said. "Do you know what Youko is planning?"

Setsuna looked at her, clearly surprised. "She didn't tell you...? Do you remember what happened at the Youkai Festival?"

Haru cocked her head, curious. "What do you..." She paused a moment. "Are you talking about that Masashi guy?"

Setsuna nodded. "Yes. Remember how he declared his intent to become the next Youkai King?" She waited until Haru nodded, then continued. "Youko declared her intent at the same time. Now, anyone trying to become the Youkai King must try to get the three sacred items: the Eight Hand Mirror, which Masashi has right now, The Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven, or more commonly the 'Grasscutter', and the Yasakani no Magatama, a special amulet. And in Kyoto..." she said, trailing off as she smiled slightly.

"Oooh," Haru said as understanding dawned. "So which one is she after?"

"The sword," Setsuna said, smiling.

"Is this _the_ Grasscutter?" Keiko asked, speaking up for the first time since Setsuna returned from her patrol of the bullet train. "The one used by Yamato Takeru? It's not in Atsuta Shrine, in Nagoya?"

"And given to Amaterasu by Susanoo," Setsuna said, nodding. "The _same sword_. The one in Atsuta Shrine is a replica." The knowing grin on her face raised Haru's curiosity.

"So...do you know where the real one is?" Haru asked.

Setsuna's grin widened. "In the main Shinmeiryu compound."

* * *

><p>Haru exited the taxi with the other girls on a street corner and waited while Setsuna retrieved the single piece of luggage they had brought. Youko and Konoka crowded in close as she unzipped the oddly long bag, and Haru, curious, craned her neck to see what was going on.<p>

The pair of swords Setsuna pulled out and handed to Konoka and Youko were most definitely _not_ on the list of things she had expected to see.

Keiko, ever quick to grasp a situation, shrank back to Haru's side and grabbed her sleeve. "...We're going to storm the Shinmeiryu compound, aren't we?" she asked nervously.

Youko looked up, grinning, her eyes fully open for once, showing the odd, pale blue color of her irises. "Got it in one, Keiko-chan. And you two are gonna help~"

Haru just stood there, her mouth opening and shutting as she tried to think of something, anything she could say to take Youko off of such a suicidal path, but no words would come.

"Is this...is this necessary? Is there some tradition?" Keiko asked.

"That's right," Konoka said as she settled her typical-sized katana with it's odd heart-shaped tsuba into its spot on her belt. "The Shinmeiryu and the groups before have always been in charge of this part of the trials of the Youkai King. Masashi cheated, so even if he had gotten the real sword, we would have hunted him down and taken it back," she said, smiling as she took a moment to eye Setsuna, who was checking her own extra long blade.

"You can do that?" Haru asked. She was a little skeptical that some kendo school in Kyoto had the power to hunt down someone powerful enough to make a legitimate attempt at claiming the title of Youkai King. Sure, some of the people who used its style were really strong, like Konoka, Setsuna, and Asuna, but that was due more to their natural skills, wasn't it? The thought that there was a kendo school that taught youkai slaying was kind of scary...

"In Mundus Magicus, even the Youkai King bows to the Konoe Heir," Youko and Konoka recited in sync, grinning.

"And guess who traditionally leads the Shinmeiryu?" Youko asked.

"The...Konoe heir?" Haru asked.

"Got it again," Youko said as she settled her sword, shorter than either Konoka or Setsuna's, into the belt she put on for the purpose. "We really need to get you trained to use one of these, ya know?" she said, eyeing Haru.

"N-no thanks, I'd probably just cut my leg off trying to pull it out," Haru said nervously, holding up her hands placatingly as she eyed the short sword at Youko's waist. "Why is yours so short?" she asked.

"I'm borrowing it from Konoka," Youko replied. "Just until I get _my_ sword."

"Oh..." Haru said. The group fell silent as Setsuna, Konoka, and Youko finished checking their equipment. "So, uh..." Haru said when it looked like they were finally ready, "I get why you three are here, but what about us? I mean, I'm not a fighter, and neither is Keiko..."

Youko grinned at her, letting her fanglike canines show. "You'd be surprised. Besides, you might end up being useful; you never know."

"That's right," Setsuna said as she smiled gently as Keiko and Haru. "I've seen more than one battle settled by someone who wasn't a fighter. It'll be okay, just stay behind us."

Haru and Keiko looked at each other, and Haru couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that Keiko looked far more sure of herself than Haru felt. Konoka and Youko started forward and Setsuna fell into step behind them. Keiko settled her backpack into a comfortable position, looked at Haru, shrugged, and set off after them. Haru heaved a sigh and moved to bring up the rear.

* * *

><p>"Ah...Lady Konoe...? What is...I don't understand..." the guard at the small side gate in the southwest corner of the compound said nervously as he focused very carefully on not moving. At all. Konoka's blade rested against his throat.<p>

"This is a raid!" Konoka said happily, smiling at the sweating guard. Setsuna stood behind her, looking slightly embarrassed while Haru and Keiko watched from a fair distance away.

"A-a...a raid...?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"What...I...I mean...huh?" the guard said. He licked his lips nervously as a drop of sweat rolled down his face.

"I am declaring my intent to obtain the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven," Youko said, smiling at the guard. "Do you know the ritual?"

The guard's eyes widened and he had to stop himself from nodding lest he accidentally cut his own throat. "I-I do...! I...just, just please take the sword away? P-please?"

"Promise you won't run...?" Konoka asked, eyeing him speculatively.

"Y-yes! I swear!"

"Okay!"

The guard nearly collapsed in relief when Konoka took her sword away, but quickly gathered his wits and turned back to Youko, straightening his back and adopting the expression and tone required by tradition. "And who are you, to seek the sword?" he asked.

"I am Miyoshi Youko of the Silver Fox tribe, daughter of Miyoshi Kenshi, mother of Aoyama Genjirou. I have come to seize the sword!" Youko announced.

"And your allies?" the guard said. Haru heard shouts and running feet from the other side of the wall; she had no doubt that others were preparing to attack them as they entered, and yet they seemed to be waiting for something...probably for whatever ritual Youko had asked about to be complete, she thought.

"I am Konoe Konoka, a native of Kyoto. I intend to assist my friend in her attempt," Konoka said, her expression a mask of formality.

"I am Sakurazaki Setsuna, also a native of Kyoto. I intend to assist her as well," Setsuna said in a similar manner.

"And you?" the guard asked, looking at Haru and Keiko.

Haru looked at Keiko nervously. "What should we do...?"

Keiko shrugged. "Follow along, I guess." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself, then took a step forward. "I am Suzuki Keiko, of Tokyo. I am here to...to record Miyoshi Youko's attempt, and assist if possible," she said.

"And you?" he asked, looking at Haru.

Haru's mouth went dry as she looked from the guard to Youko and the others, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what to say. "A-ah...I...um...I'm Endo Haru, of...of Mahora, and...I-I'm here to...assist?"

"I recognize you, Miyoshi Youko of the Silver Fox tribe and your allies," the guard said. "By my right as a member of the Shinmeiryu Guardsman, I recognize your right to try for the sword."

"I thank you," Youko replied.

The guard bowed in response, then turned and threw open the gate, revealing a dozen guards waiting inside, weapons drawn.

Youko, Konoka, and Setsuna drew their weapons, and the guards attacked.

* * *

><p>Haru watched, stunned, as the last of the guards fell, clutching his head, to join his fellows on the ground. Three young women had just taken out a dozen strong, male guards in a matter of seconds...? It had all happened so fast she had trouble understanding just what Youko, Setsuna, and Konoka had done; one moment the three had been facing the guards, and it seemed the next after a flurry of movement and the brief clash of blades the guards were all down on the ground.<p>

"Don't worry;" Setsuna said, sheathing her nodachi. "I used the back of my blade."

"...isn't that dangerous?" Haru asked. "Like, really, insanely dangerous?"

Setsuna grinned slightly and shook her head.

"Not for someone as skilled as her," Youko said happily as she sheathed her wakizashi. "Now, so long as none of them got away..." she said, glancing over at Keiko.

"Sorry," she said. "One ran to that building," she said, pointing at a small building beside the gate; Haru figured it functioned as this gate's guardhouse.

"Well let's-" Youko was interrupted mid-sentence by the sudden ringing of a massive bell.

Haru winced and covered her ears; that bell was _loud_...! It took her a moment to realize the unnaturally loud ringing was probably a recording.

Youko trotted over to the side of the building and ripped the power line lines loose; sparks flew and Youko, looking surprised, dropped the thick wires and leapt back; the unbearable noise of the warning bell cut off abruptly.

"You should probably have _real_ warning bells instead of just a recording...," Keiko said, looking shyly at Konoka.

Konoka smiled brightly at her. "You're right, Keiko-chan; I'll have to take care of that soon," she said, nodding sagely.

"And we're found out already," Setsuna said, looking down the path toward where it disappeared in the trees; shouts could be heard as a group rushed down the path toward them, hidden by the trees. "Into the trees!"

* * *

><p>While the main Shinmeiryu compound and Konoe main house in Kyoto was very, very old, it was also extremely large; the walled area alone, separating the open-to-the-public cultural heritage site of the main shrine and historical village from the Konoe house and main Shinmeiryu training area as well as its environs, was larger than many small towns. As such, it contained quite an expanse of small forests and old structures that had been all but forgotten about, as well as areas that were considered dangerous and strictly off-limits.<p>

"Stick together," Youko said quietly as the five girls moved through the trees as quietly as they could. They had narrowly avoided the second set of guards by cutting through a small forest, but they were still close enough to be found out by loud speech. "It's best if we don't-"

"_Raimeiken...!_" someone shouted from somewhere in the trees above.

"Scatter!" Youko screamed as she dove aside to avoid the ki attack. Konoka, Setsuna, and Keiko all immediately followed her example, leaving only Haru behind to run screaming into the woods as the ground she had just been standing on exploded upward with a deafening blast. Haru scrambled through the trees as well as she could, given the situation.

"Rie, Yamada! After the Ojou-sama and the fox! Chiba! Catch the crow and the human girl!" a woman said from somewhere in the trees, barking the orders. Haru could hear them clearly, which only made her more nervous as she stopped to hide behind a huge tree stump.

"Understood!" the others replied. Haru could hear people moving through the underbrush for a moment, then silence fell over the forest again but for the sound of the wind in the leaves. Haru strained her ears to listen for any sign of the one who had been giving orders, but she heard nothing. Still...something wasn't right. There was a certain _tension_ in the air that hadn't been there before. Haru tried to quiet her racing heart and did her best to listen for anyone's approach, but she heard nothing. Still, something wasn't right. Frowning, Haru concentrated for a moment and popped her _other _ears out; her hearing was instantly magnified, and she immediately realized what was wrong. The forest was quiet, true...too quiet. There was no sound of birds or animals, only the wind in the leaves...and the sound of something creeping up slowly on the other side of the stump. She could hear it breathing, each breath long and slow and timed to blend in with the wind, but with her other ears out, Haru could pick it out easily, along with the faintest hint of what she realized in surprise was a heartbeat.

'_What should I do...?'_ she wondered frantically, pulling her knees up to her chest.

'_ISN'T THAT OBVIOUS?'_ the other Haru replied in her head. '_KILL HER.'_

'_No...!'_ Haru thought frantically. She wasn't going to kill anyone, no matter _what_ the other Haru said...!

'_TIME'S UP,'_ the other Haru said.

Haru let out a yelp and threw herself to the forest floor, covering her head as the woman sliced the stump she was hiding behind cleanly in half.

"Found you," the woman said.

Haru glanced back as she scrambled to her feet and caught a glimpse of a tall cat youkai woman in a loose, flowery yukata raising a sword.

"Raimeiken!"

Haru screamed and ran as hard as she could as another explosion ripped through the woods.

* * *

><p>Konoka looked to Youko, who nodded at her, and nodded back. A quick glance back showed her that the Snake and Dog youkai were still following, hot on their heels. Konoka and Youko darted apart at the same instant, and, just as planned, the two following them separated as well, the snake youkai going after Konoka, and the dog youkai going after Youko.<p>

Konoka ducked around a large tree while Youko kept running, and the snake girl instantly went around the other side, hoping to catch her, but Konoka was waiting for her. Their swords clashed once, twice, then the two leaped apart.

"You've gotten good, ojou-sama," the snake girl said, making the eerie grin that unnerved most everyone who didn't know her.

Konoka smiled back; Mizuhara Rie had been one of those she had often sparred with during her training after...what had happened with Setsuna that time in high school. Everyone thought Rie was creepy with that smile and her strange eyes, but Konoka knew better; though she looked like an adult, Rie was still just a girl, only forty or so, young yet for a youkai, and though she tried to hide it from outsiders, she loved cute things and even had a box full of plush toys in her room. "You're better than you were the last time we sparred, too, Rie-chan."

"I thank you," Rie said, moving in to attack. Again, Konoka deflected her blade, neither one really intent on hurting the other. Rie moved back smoothly into an attack stance. "Where's your wakizashi?"

"Youko's borrowing it," Konoka said. "Where's yours?" she asked, grinning as she changed her stance to one that would leave Rie wide open for a beheading should she attack with her current stance. Rie switched her stance to a different one, and Konoka followed suit, stance countering stance. "You're the one who taught me to use one with a katana, after all."

Rie made a lopsided grin. "Hideko hid it from me as a prank. This isn't going anywhere, is it?" she asked as she moved into another stance with the eerie grace that marked her instantly to anyone in the know as a snake youkai.

Konoka let out a laugh. "Not really, no." They could hear the clash of swords and the occasional small explosion nearby as Youko fought with the other girl. "Sounds like Hideko-chan's really going all out. Want to give up? I'll tell daddy you fought well."

Rie shook her head. "Hideko never liked foxes. But anyway, I can't accept your offer; I have a reputation to keep." She darted forward even as she spoke, still smiling as she brought her sword forward into a thrust, and Konoka raised her blade just enough to put it over the top of Rie's, deflecting it from its course. Rie tried to turn the motion into a cut across Konoka's midsection, but she lost sight of Konoka's right hand until it slammed into her face and released a tiny ki blast. Rie's head rocked back and she fell, unconscious before she hit the ground. Konoka knelt down next to her and checked to make sure no permanent damage had been done to her friend, but then a devious grin snaked over her face. "He he~"

When Youko came trotting up a moment later, grinning as if she had just had a good workout, she found Konoka crouched down next to the fallen snake girl, who was now lying on her side in an exaggeratedly provocative manner, her clothing pulled loose and arranged to show as much skin as possible.

"...is that really necessary?" Youko asked, raising an eyebrow.

Konoka looked up at her and grinned. "Of course! She lost, after all, and everyone knows there has to be a penalty game~" She pulled out her cell phone and began snapping pictures of Rie.

"Yeah..." Youko said absently.

"Wow, you really got her good, huh?" someone said.

"Mm-hmm!" Konoka said as she reached over and arranged Rie's shirt to show a little more cleavage before taking another picture.

"I'll have to tell Hikari about that; that one's one of her hers, right?"

"Yep!" Konoka said. "Rie-chan's my good friend though, so you shouldn't do anything _too_ bad, right Koyomi-chan?" she said, drawing her sword in what should have been a lethal cut as she turned to face the woman. Youko brought her wakizashi up at the same instant, but both blades were stopped with a clash of metal on metal as Konoka and Youko turned to face the interloper.

"Heya Konoka-ojou-sama-chan," the woman standing before them said cutely, winking at Konoka. "I was wondering when you'd get serious~ What are you doing back here all of a sudden, without even bothering to call and warn anybody? And who is this?" she said, looking at Youko. "And I can't help but notice blushy-girl's not here...what's going on?" she asked as if she wasn't currently holding off two skilled swordswomen by herself with nothing but a couple of wakizashis, one for each girl.

"You...you're good. Who are you?" Youko asked, narrowing her eyes at the strange woman.

"Aoyama Koyomi, at your service!" the woman said brightly, winking at her. "Cutest of the Aoyamas, ne?"

"Aoyama..." Youko said, looking strained.

"Koyomi-san..." Konoka said. Koyomi might not look like much with her thin figure and short stature, but she was a master at manipulating her ki reserves to strengthen her body, making her far faster and stronger than she appeared to be; she was also quite a bit older than she appeared to be...the oldest of the Aoyama cousins, in fact, though she looked like the youngest except for Motoko. Konoka could beat her on a good day, but as with any member of the Aoyama family, it was never an easy thing for her, especially since she hadn't been training for anywhere near as long as the other woman. "Um, Youko...?"

"Yeah?" Youko said, her voice sounding increasingly strained as Koyomi poured on more pressure.

"Um...run, okay?" Konoka said as she moved to support the back of her blade with her shoulder—a suicidal move in any real fight, but legitimate enough in a situation like the one they were in—which freed up her right hand. She thrust the palm of her hand at Koyomi's face, letting off a small ki blast as she had done earlier with Rie, but Koyomi jerked her head back and out of the way, releasing enough of the pressure she held on Youko's wakizashi for her to escape.

"Hey now, I taught you that one!" Koyomi said indignantly as she leaped back out of Konoka's range before she could try the move again. "You didn't actually expect that to work on me, did you?" she asked, seemingly uncaring of the fact that Youko had escaped and was already lost to sight among the trees; instead, she focused all her attention on Konoka, who watched her warily.

"It was worth a try, a least," Konoka replied, her constant smile finally fading as Koyomi beamed at her.

"True enough, I guess~ But now back to business, Konoka-chan...let's see what you've learned~"

* * *

><p>Fifteen feet away, Mizuhara Rie's eyes fluttered open and she found herself lying on the ground, feeling really quite drafty. Low voices nearby quickly caught her attention, however, especially one in particular... '<em>Oh...oh no...'<em> It was _her. _ The Two Blade Psycho, the Tree Ninja, the Shooting Star, the bane of every newcomer to the Shinmeiryu, Aoyama Koyomi, cousin to Tsuruko and Motoko...!. Rie hadn't known she was back from her most recent mission yet...! A drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face, but Rie very carefully ignored the irritation it caused and focused on not attracting Koyomi's attention. '_Sorry Konoka-chan, but it's you or me!'_

* * *

><p>Setsuna led Keiko through the woods as quickly and quietly as she could manage; they had almost lost the oni following them; Setsuna only knew her through her reputation as a hot-tempered woman who was more interested in straightforward combat than any sort of subterfuge. While Setsuna was similarly inclined, she had never let her personal preferences interfere with her training in the more devious areas of Shinmeiryu training. Still, she didn't think she'd need much of <em>that<em> training to take care of Chiba Usagi. And Keiko was performing admirably as well; the girl's natural tendency to remain quiet and unobtrusive made her a natural when it was time to disappear. Setsuna eyed the trees as they passed. She knew this area well; they were in an area of the compound that she and Konoka had explored often as children, due to the rumors of a haunted house in the woods. They hadn't ever found it, but that wasn't particularly unusual...the Shinmeiryu as well as the Konoe family were well versed in onmyodo and other magics, and misdirection was a fairly simple effect. Now, if she could just find that stump next to that small rock outcropping...

She spotted it a moment later and moved around it to the other side of the rocks, where she and Konoka had long ago found a tiny cave. The entrance, under the stump, could only be seen from a narrow angle mostly blocked by the rock outcropping. It wasn't even a cave, really, just a spot hollowed out by water runoff down the small hillside they were on. Setsuna motioned for Keiko to stay silent, then pushed her into the hole. She took a moment to make sure Chiba wasn't close and then squeezed into it herself.

'_That was a little tighter than I remember...' _she thought to herself as she pressed herself as deep into the hole as she could go. She knew Keiko was pinned uncomfortably against the dirt wall behind her, but to Setsuna's admiration the girl remained silent. Perhaps thirty seconds after squeezing into the hole, they heard the sound of someone blundering through the underbrush and Setsuna couldn't help but smile. Chiba was a city oni, no doubt about it. They waited in silence while Chiba stormed past the stump and rock outcropping, muttering something about how she hadn't even been supposed to work today.

Chiba's complaining voice faded as she kept going, completely unaware of how close she had been to Setsuna and Keiko, and soon she was out of hearing. They waited a minute, then another, and when there was no other sign of Chiba's presence, Setsuna crept out of the hole and helped Keiko to her feet.

"Do you know where the others went?" Keiko asked, peering around.

"No, and we don't have time to look for them; we'll just have to assume they're heading for the main building. Let's go."

Setsuna really had to hand it to Keiko; the girl had adapted to their situation with remarkable swiftness. Many of those she had worked with in the past, even some so-called 'professionals', could learn a thing or two from Keiko... The backpack the girl was carrying intrigued her as well; what was in it? From the way Keiko kept it close, she obviously thought it was important. Youko had told her she would be impressed by the girl, and she had been right.

Setsuna led the way to the edge of the woods, where they paused just long enough for Setsuna to check if it was okay to leave the safety of the forest and the cover it provided. Setsuna looked around carefully, trying to spot anyone that might try to stop them.

Directly in front of them was the guest house; she wasn't aware of any guests present at the moment, but she couldn't discount the possibility. If possible, she didn't want to involve any outsiders in Youko's raid. On the east side of the guest house would be a fair-sized koi pond, a small garden and, a short distance further, the main house; from her position at the edge of the trees, she could just barely see the edge of it past the guest house. She knew that past the main house was another, larger patch of forest, and past _that _was the main Shinmeiryu barracks and training center for new recruits; that was where every member of the Shinmeiryu was first trained, and, unless they were assigned somewhere else or had families of their own, where a great many of them lived and slept. She had spent her early years there, under the tutelage of several of the most skilled members alive today.

The main north-south and east-west paths, as well as several of the paths commonly used by maintenance workers and the gardening crew, intersected a short distance away in the space in front of the main house, providing ample opportunity for someone to spot them. All in all, though, something was bothering Setsuna. It seemed almost as if the grounds around the main house were too quiet; there wasn't a single gardener or maintenance person in sight...! Sure, they were trained to blend in with the scenery as much as possible, but this...

"They're waiting for us, aren't they?" Keiko asked.

Setsuna nodded. "I think so." She eased along the tree until she could see the small storage building attached to the main house. "Do you see that building?" she asked, pointing. When Keiko nodded, she continued. "Follow the treeline around as quietly as you can until it you reach a wide path with threes on the other side. When you're sure its clear, cross that path and go through the woods. After a hundred feet or so, you'll come out next to a bath house. Across from that is the storage building; it should be unlocked at this time of the day. Go in there and wait for me. Understand?"

"I do," Keiko said, her ponytail bobbing as she nodded.

"Good," Setsuna said, smiling at her. Keiko was so serious-minded...! Not unlike how she herself had been, not too long ago. "Good luck."

"You too," Keiko said as she adjusted her backpack straps and slipped away through the trees, leaving Setsuna alone. Setsuna eased out past the treeline and sprinted toward the guest house, where she crouched between two decorative bushes and looked for anything suspicious. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary—something which was becoming increasingly worrisome—she crept forward along the side of the guest house.

The sound of a katana being slowly drawn stopped her in her tracks, her hand on the hilt of her nodachi. She knew that sound; she knew that slow, deliberate draw. "Tsuruko-sensei..."

"Ah, Setsuna-han! It has been so long!" Tsuruko replied in the lilting tone she often used to freak out her old students. _Everyone_ knew what _that_ tone of voice meant. "You never call, you never write...why, one might think you didn't want to see me! That's not true, _is it_?"

Setsuna's mouth went dry as she slowly, so slowly, stood and turned to see Tsuruko standing maybe ten feet behind her. Now that she was looking at her, she realized Tsuruko had been lurking on the second floor of the guest house, waiting for her; the window she had jumped down from stood open above her and, lo and behold, there was Motoko-sensei looking down at the two of them.

"Hello, Motoko-sensei," Setsuna said reluctantly.

"It's been a while since your last visit," Motoko said as she made a graceful leap and joined her sister on the ground.

Setsuna was somewhat relieved that Motoko didn't draw her sword immediately; Tsuruko alone was someone Setsuna could hold off if not defeat. Tsuruko and Motoko both? It would take all the skill and power Setsuna had just to keep from losing within the first twenty seconds. She was already calculating how to escape the situation she had stepped into when she replied. "We only left Kyoto a few months ago. How are the cousins?"

Tsuruko's amused smile widened slightly. "Tomiko still hasn't won against me, and Sayuri still hasn't defeated Tomiko. The others, well..." She trailed off. That was all that was necessary, really. Among the Aoyama branch families, there were eight cousins who were considered worthy enough to attempt to challenge Tsuruko for her position in the Shinmeiryu: Koyomi, the weakest of the lot, Natsuki, who was tall and creepy and widely considered the most disturbing of the Aoyamas other than Tsuruko even though she had trouble defeating any of her cousins, Tsukiko the Onmyodo expert, Etsuko, who didn't really stand out, the boys Daigoro and Kazuki, Sayuri, who led a squad in the Third Mercenary Force, and Tomiko, widely considered the strongest of the Aoyamas after Tsuruko, who led a squad in the Second Mercenary Force. All were amazingly skilled compared to the average member of the Shinmeiryu, but none of them could defeat Tsuruko, no matter what they tried. As for Motoko...well, suffice to say, Setsuna wasn't looking forward to facing Tsuruko, but she would if necessary. If she had been facing Motoko alone? Setsuna would have run.

Tsuruko grinned.

* * *

><p>Youko came to a stop at the treeline, then darted across the path in front of her and into the trees on the other side. She continued on through the woods, occasionally catching a glimpse of the thick wall that separated the area just to the south that was accessible to the public from the private grounds. The place had changed considerably from the time, centuries before, when she had lived on the same ground with the man known as Aoyama Saburo and the struggling sword school that had at the time only recently been rebuilt after long, long years of bad management had resulted in the loss of the fully eighty percent of its members and most of the reputation it had built up over several centuries. She couldn't help but grin as she eyed the tall stone walls nearby. It appeared all the effort she and Saburo had gone through to rebuild the Shinmeiryu with the assistance of the Konoe family had worked out in the end. From what she understood, the Shinmeiryu hadn't slowed down in the least.<p>

'_The main house should be...that way?'_ she thought as she faced away from the stone wall. From what she recalled, the main house _should_ be directly north of her position. Away from prying eyes, Youko allowed herself to drop the proud, playful facade she kept up at all times and let out a shuddering sigh. Returning to Kyoto was bad enough, but to walk this ground, see the changes brought about by the cruel passage of time and to recall the few short years she had had with Saburo in this same place...she shivered in spite of the July heat and wrapped her arms around herself.

It hurt.

It hurt, knowing she'd never see Saburo again, knowing that the child she had only known for a few months had taken after his father, had grown up, had children of his own, fought in battle after battle, and finally died, all while she sat in a Konoe family cell hidden underground in this very compound, wrapped in sealing charms, barely aware of the passage of time.

It _hurt_.

Youko had never known her father; he had been a Silver Fox Tribe youkai like her mother and herself, but she had never met him; she didn't even know his name. Her mother had never spoken of him. She didn't know anything about him...what he looked like, how powerful he was, the way he spoke, anything. When Saburo died, she had told herself his son would never suffer through the confusion she had as a child, that she would make sure he would know of that stupid, lovely man. But then...

Youko almost snarled.

_Masashi._ The bastard had framed her, dumped the responsibility for his actions squarely on her shoulders, and gotten away with it. Masashi had been the one to ruin her life. Masashi had been the one to bring about the troubles in Kyoto that took Saburo away from her. Masashi had been the one to get her locked up and left her son without any parents before he was old enough to speak. Masashi had ruined her life, and for what? Because her mother had been the Youkai King? Now that she had had time to do some research, she could see that he had been planning to become Youkai King even back then. So, what was she to do...? That was simple.

Youko started to grin; it wasn't a pleasant sight.

She'd ruin Masashi's life. After all he'd done to her and those around her, not to mention all those who died in the riots and fires in Kyoto all those years ago, he deserved it. And, judging by his reaction to her presence back at the Youkai Festival, she'd made a fine start. There were all manner of things she could do to make his life a living hell, and she fully intended to do every last one of them if she could; but the main thing, the most important thing to Masashi, was his eventual rise as Youkai King. If he achieved that, no amount of torture she put him through would mean anything. And so...

Youko stood up straight and shook her head to clear it of old memories and thoughts of revenge. The attempt to get the sword was the sort of thing you had to take seriously if you wanted to succeed, especially with the Shinmeiryu involved. She had to get the sword, true...but first, she needed something she had left behind three hundred years before. She slipped forward deeper into the trees, following a path that no longer existed in the modern world until she reached the faded and vine-covered gate of an old shrine with nothing left of its stairs but scattered stones hidden among the underbrush of the small hillside. She smiled as she stepped through the first torii gate, a little amazed it was still standing. Though it had been the main shrine serving the Konoe estate three hundred years ago, the shrine had obviously been long abandoned by this point. To find any of its big torii gates still standing was amazing, considering the condition of the stone path. Huge trees, big even in her memories, were everywhere, obscuring vision together with the underbrush that covered the ground. She knew where she was going, however, and after passing the ruins of the second torii gate—two stumps in the ground—she paused for a moment to look ahead at the final gate and the shrine building behind it.

The third gate had only recently collapsed; the pillar on the right had cracked, ripping the two lintels loose as it fell; all lay on the ground before her, blocking access to the shrine building...or what was left of it. While some shrines had a multitude of buildings, this one had only had three: a storage building, the small house the miko lived in, and the even smaller building housing the shrine itself. The storage building and house were long gone, and the shrine building was a sorry sight with its roof long collapsed and its walls little more than a few upright posts, with everything else hidden under debris and the same thick growth of plants that covered the entire forest floor.

"Now, where did I put it..." she muttered to herself as she looked around, trying to recall how the shrine had looked three hundred years before. "...the youkai tree's way over there...the well should be over _there_...if the shrine building's there, then _that's_ where the amusingly shaped tree stump was..." Youko made her way through the remains of the shrine grounds until finally pausing on an unremarkable spot situated between four distinct landmarks, only one of which still existed in a recognizable form to that which had existed three centuries before. She got down on her hands and knees and started digging.

* * *

><p>Konoka staggered through the woods in the direction she thought Youko had gone, exhausted after her long battle with Koyomi. It had been a close battle, but she had won by disarming Koyomi. Literally. A few panic-filled moments and a healthy dose of white magic later everything had been fine and Koyomi, no longer loopy from blood loss, had admitted her defeat, but the experience had shaken Konoka. She hadn't ever done anything like that before, and the ease with which it had happened—not to mention the speed—had been shocking. She had participated in hundreds, maybe even thousands of live-blade spar sessions with her friends, and aside from a few clumsy incidents on Asuna's part in high school, she hadn't ever been through such an incident outside of a serious battle, and she had never done such a thing herself, not to someone who couldn't survive such a wound by immediately regrowing the limb they had lost. But Koyomi had pushed her so hard she hadn't been able to hold back at all; if she had... It had been <em>scary<em>.

Resolving to get Setsuna to comfort her later, Konoka shook her head to clear it; this was no time to be distracted. Distractions could come later, when she wasn't helping Youko change the world. Pouting fiercely in stubborn defiance of her emotions, she continued on through the woods until she came up to a huge tree with an old shimenawa tied around it. She knew about this tree; she had once helped renew the shide—zigzag paper streamers—attached to its shimenawa. Everybody called it the Youkai Tree...family legend said a powerful youkai had allowed itself to be sealed inside to protect the Konoe estate and surrounding lands from an evil youkai who was also sealed inside it; the two were supposedly locked in an eternal struggle, one to protect the land, one to destroy it. Konoka had always thought the two must have gotten tired of fighting centuries ago; they were probably playing mahjong in there or something. She paused and looked around. If she recalled correctly, there was a shrine somewhere nearby...

Thirty seconds later, she spotted a huge torii gate and headed toward it. She was led on by the remains of another one and promptly spotted the decayed remains of an old wooden building, no doubt the shrine. She cocked her head to the side as she looked at it.

"Found it...!" someone said nearby. Konoka looked around for the source of the voice and, after spotting some movement in the underbrush, made her way over a fallen tree and spotted Youko, her hands and knees dirty, holding up a bead necklace with a particularly large jewel in a shape similar to a claw, or a comma. She looked up at Konoka an instant later, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "I found it! I buried it here for safekeeping, and it was still here!" she said, waving the necklace in her excitement.

Konoka eyed the necklace in confusion. "What is it?" It certainly didn't _look _very impressive...it was just a bunch of stone beads tied together in a somewhat tacky necklace with one big...jade...magatama... "That's the Yasakani no Magatama, isn't it?" she asked in shocked surprise.

Youko's only response was to grin.

"Your mother gave it to you, didn't she? When she gave the sword to us and gave the mirror to the Silver Fox Tribe elders..." Konoka continued on, her excitement building. The tacky necklace with the plain looking beads she was looking at was thousands and thousands of years old...! It had been a powerful relic held by every youkai king since before the youkai took on their current form! Amaterasu herself had worn this necklace...!

And she had always thought of her family's home as old...! Ha! The sacred relic Youko held before her made her home, the shrine nearby, even the Konoe family line itself look young!

"That's one down," Youko said as she tucked the necklace into a pocket. "Want to try for the next?" she asked, grinning.

Konoka, her exhaustion and the trauma of hurting her old friend Koyomi so badly temporarily washed away by the excitement of unexpectedly coming upon such an ancient treasure, smiled. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's notes:<strong> Well, now you know what I was doing during my two week break 'for research'...In addition to all the research I did on Japanese castles/temples/shrines/kendo schools/the area around Kyoto/Shinmeiryu techniques/etc. I made a grid and drew out the Konoe/Shinmeiryu compound in Kyoto, down to individual buildings and paths. It's quite a large area, all enclosed by a huge stone wall, and even includes the main Shinmeiryu training area. There's other stuff outside the walls of course, but yeah. Main compound – done. I also filled out the Shinmeiryu roster I made a while back some more; there are now about a hundred or so Shinmeiryu members to play around with, should I need a few here or there. Also, my plan a couple chapters ago to finish Book 2 off in four chapters fell apart; this one ended up longer than I expected; so long, in fact, that I had to split it in two, and maybe three depending on how the rest of it goes, and I'm pretty sure the chapter afterward will have to be split as well. But I do only have a few more chapters planned for Book 2; we're almost ready to shake things up and go to the Magic World!_

_As for references I made in this chapter..._

_Haru and Youko and Masashi at the Youkai Festival - just reread that chapter if you really want to know, but to put it simply, Haru and Youko clashed with Masashi several times.  
><em>

_Haru, the Red Fox Youkai, and the Last Night Of The Festival - What happened here is detailed in the short story Youkai Rangers, which you can find on this site in the short story collection Still Waters 3 Side Stories: Book 2.  
><em>

_What Happened with Setsuna in High School - This is referring to the mysterious incident which resulted in Konoka joining the Shinmeiryu for training. What exactly happened hasn't been revealed yet._

_Aoyama Cousins - The girls are all based on an image in the Love Hina manga, Chapter 72, Page 6, shown during a flashback to Motoko's childhood, or possibly just a bad dream. The boys were added for a little variety, and to show that there are male fighters in the Aoyama family as well.  
><em>

_Now..._

**Dictionary time!**

_Torii – These are those big red and black gatelike structures that are commonly seen at the entrance to a Shinto shrine._

_Shimenawa – These are those ropes you often see in anime and pictures of Shinto shrines, sometimes tied around rocks or trees or hanging across the roof of a shrine._

_Shide – These are those zigzag paper streamers that you almost always see tied to a shimenawa._

_Magatama – This is the name of those comma/claw-shaped beads that show up from time to time in anime._

_Kusanagi no Tsurugi/Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi – The 'Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven', later known as the 'Grass Cutting Sword', is one part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, here co-opted as one of the three sacred items a youkai must gather before he can become the Youkai King (which is the official title, by the way; you can be a woman and still be the 'Youkai King'). Its appearance is unknown at this point. It seems to have control over the wind, or possibly other elements._

_Yata no Kagami – The 'Eight Hand Mirror'. A sacred mirror, also part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, used here as one of the three items any youkai must gather before becoming the Youkai King. This is currently in the possession of Masashi, the Gold Fox youkai who caused such an uproar at the Youkai Festival. It appears to enable transportation between worlds, though it may have other powers._

_Yasakani no Magatama – A sacred jewel, used together with the Yata no Kagami to lure Amaterasu out of a cave in Japanese legend. This, like the Kusanagi and Yata no Kagami, is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. Its powers are unknown at this point. Currently in the possession of Miyoshi Youko, to be used in her bid for the title of Youkai King._

_Imperial Regalia of Japan – A.K.A. The Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, this consists of the Kusanagi (representing Valor), the Yata no Kagami (representing Wisdom), and the Yasakani no Magatama (representing Benevolence). These have in this story been used as the three sacred relics any youkai must acquire to become Youkai King. In SW3, the Japanese government claims to have the originals in several shrines, but these are copies meant to throw youkai off the trail of the real thing._

_For more info on any of these, check out wikipedia._


	30. Ch 26 A Fox in Kyoto Part 2

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 26: A Fox in Kyoto, Part 2**

* * *

><p>"Youkoooo...!" Konoka whined as she ducked a spear thrust and batted it aside with her free hand while she desperately parried a sword thrust. "This isn't fair...!"<p>

"Sorry Ojou-chan," Aoyama Kazuki, the spear user, said as he engaged in a spectacularly swift series of thrusts and cuts with his wide-bladed spear, "but you know we can't go easy on you, no matter how cute you are."

"My cousin is correct," Aoyama Daigoro said, his long samurai ponytail blowing in the wind as he moved back to give himself enough room to execute whatever move Kazuki was keeping her distracted from. "It is our duty to do our best to halt the advance of your group."

Konoka pouted even as she ducked under Kazuki's spear again and shot in close. He leaped back, giving her just enough room to avoid Daigoro's ki strike. "You guys are just...just _mean_!" she said as she tried to keep close enough to Kazuki so he couldn't use his spear. He pegged her upside the head with the base of it an instant later, staggering her and leaving her wide open for Daigoro as she let out a pitiful little cry.

It must've been the cry that did it, Konoka thought later as she scrambled away from the scene. Daigoro hesitated, and Konoka kicked him between the legs. _Hard._ He fell to his knees and let out a little cry of his own, then, echoed in horrified sympathy by Kazuki. Konoka took the opportunity while Kazuki was looking at Daigoro to yank the tip of his spear down, bringing the butt of it up between his legs. An instant later, Kazuki let out a little cry again, this time most assuredly _not_ done out of sympathy. Konoka wasted no time celebrating her victory, and instead staggered out into the forest as fast as she could in the direction Youko had fled.

* * *

><p>Youko ran swiftly through the trees, her face pale as if she had seen a ghost.<p>

Back at the shrine in the woods, after she had dug up the Yasakani no Magatama, one of the three items a youkai needed to hold to become the Youkai King, Youko and Konoka had heard voices approaching. They had instantly hidden themselves as well as they could and waited for whoever was approaching.

What Youko had seen next had left her stunned.

The first voice, stern and serious, had belonged to a man who resembled the samurai of old, those who had built the Shinmeiryu back up to reach and even surpass its former glory. The second voice, however...Youko shivered as she recalled her first glimpse of that man.

He was taller, as people were in this age, and his hair was a light brown instead of black, but his face, his expression, his laid back style, the way he moved...it was as if she was looking at her Saburo, back from the dead. Barely able to think, she had scrambled to her feet and run away as fast as she could, leaving Konoka behind to face them alone. She hadn't _meant_ to do it, it had just kinda happened...and that _was_ kind of why she had asked Setsuna and Konoka along, after all. Still... '_I'll have to apologize to her later,'_ Youko thought to herself as she neared the edge of the treeline and darted across a path into another patch of trees. At the very least, she now knew Saburo's bloodline still ran strong.

In her panic at seeing the Saburo-look-alike, she had taken off in the wrong direction, leaving her dangerously close to the front entrance of the compound and its multitude of guards before she realized what she was doing. Still, she had a fairly good idea of where she was, and she adjusted her course through the trees accordingly, heading for the main house and the servants' quarters next to it which were, luckily enough, a fairly short distance from the main entrance. She soon crossed another path and entered a thin stretch of forest; through the trees, she could catch glimpses of part of the main house and the servants' quarters just to the west of her position. A shout came from the area in front of the main house and she froze in place, thinking she might have been spotted, but it wasn't repeated. She strained her ears to listen, but had to pop out her fox ears to catch the sound of swords clashing coming from the front yard. '_Good, at least one of them made it this far,' _she thought to herself as she crept from cover to cover. '_It must be Setsuna; there's no way Konoka defeated those two that quickly.' _She liked Setsuna; the half crow girl really knew her swordwork, that was for sure. She was loyal to her friends, too, far more so than could be expected of just about anyone, really. Youko just hoped it wouldn't be Setsuna's undoing some day.

She let such thoughts go as she neared the house. A careful look around the area showed no sign of any watchers except a carefully hidden spot in a tree, where someone had evidently sat in hiding...probably vacated as soon as the fighting in the front yard started. '_Thanks for the diversion, Setsuna. I'll definitely have to pay you back for this when we get back to Mahora...' _Youko thought as she darted across the carefully trimmed grass and toward the servants' quarters. She paused by the door, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and darted inside. '_I just wish Haru was here; it'd be good for her to do a little breaking and entering. I wonder where she is...?_'

* * *

><p>A branch slapped Haru in the face as she ran. She let out a yelp; she couldn't help it.<p>

"I hear you...!" her pursuer howled in delight, sounding _far_ too close for Haru's liking. Haru gritted her teeth and plunged onward through the forest, her legs pumping as she ran harder than she ever had in her life. She clenched her teeth as she ran, so focused on escaping the woman chasing her that she didn't even notice the rope stretched in front of her until she'd run into it. There was a brief burning sensation where the rope made contact across her chest, but her power surged of its own accord and the rope snapped and she was through. The woman chasing her seemed to lose track of her a second or two later, so Haru strained to pull out a little more speed. A few seconds later, she saw a huge dark shape loom in the forest, and slowed as she approached.

"Wait! Where did you go?" someone shouted a fair distance back. Haru looked nervously back the way she had come, then to the big shape, and hurried on.

As she approached, she could make out a badly neglected building hidden among the foliage. The closer she got, the more details she could see; from the boarded up windows to the piles of roof tiles that had fallen, the large Japanese-style house was a mess. She couldn't tell how old it was, but it had obviously been unused for decades, maybe longer.

"Wait...!" her pursuer cried out somewhere behind her.

Haru climbed over a fallen tree and slipped inside through a hole where part of one of the walls had fallen through.

* * *

><p>Haru coughed and tried to wave away the dust she had stirred up, but that only made it worse; the dust swirled crazily in the air as she waved her hand. In the end, she settled for pulling the collar of her shirt up over her nose and holding it there. "H...hello? Is anybody there?" she whispered, her voice muffled by the shirt. She paused for a moment, straining her ears to hear the slightest hint of a response, but there was nothing; not even the noise of the forest could be heard from inside the building. She peered around in the darkness at what little she could see of the fairly small room, trying to discover what manner of place she had climbed into, but all she could make out were a couple rotting piles of rags and a handful of leaves scattered around the hole in the wall. The whole place seemed unusually dark in her opinion; but then again she <em>was<em> trespassing in an abandoned house in the middle of an overgrown forest, so she supposed that sort of thing was to be expected. '_Now, how about some light...'_

"How did Youko say that worked? Something like...this?" Youko said aloud more to drown out the silence than anything else, frowning in concentration. A moment later, a little blue ball of flame, almost blindingly bright in the darkened building, popped into existence in front of her. Haru squinted her eyes against the brightness and focused on reining in the power; even after all the training Youko and Eva had put her through in Eva's resort, she _still_ tended to overdo it when using her power... After a moment the ball of foxfire dimmed to a pleasant pale blue glow, and Haru headed for the sliding door across the room. She put her fingers into the narrow opening at the side of the door and tugged, but nothing happened; the door was jammed. It took a few more tugs, the last boosted with her power, to work the door loose, and it fell apart as she pushed it. She uttered a quick apology to the probably long-dead owner of the house, and stepped into a long, narrow hallway.

She looked first one way and the other, but the area lit by her foxfire was small; the inky blackness that surrounded her seemed unnatural, almost malevolent. "Th-that's crazy! There's no such thing as...as ghosts..." she said, realizing even as she spoke that yes indeed, there certainly _were_ ghosts. Spirits too, both harmless and harmful, not to mention all the monsters that existed in the world.

Something breathed on the back of her neck.

Haru let out a yelp and whirled around to look behind her, but there was nothing there, only the discolored wall of the hallway. "Th-this is crazy! I-I-I'm just imagining things, right?" she asked. Afraid something might respond, she answered her own question. "Right! Now, I'm just going this way! Yes! And there's nothing standing in the dark behind me! No there isn't! Nothing's there looking at me! Not at all!" she said loudly as she marched down the hallway, the sound of her footsteps seemingly swallowed up by the darkness around her. Was it her imagination, or was the circle of light getting smaller...?

"...ru...re...ou..."

"Eee...!" Haru bit her tongue and clapped her hands over her mouth and her ball of foxfire drifted closer, seemingly as scared as she was. She had _definitely_ heard someone—or some_thing—_speaking...!

"...here?...are you..."

Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice: it was that crazy woman who had been chasing her...! Fear of the dark (or, as Haru thought to herself, fear of what might be _hiding_ in the dark) was one thing, but this was a real, solid person who was trying to chase her down! '_I came here to help Youko get that fancy sword, right? I know I'm not very useful, but at least I can try and keep this crazy lady occupied, right? Right!' _ she thought to herself. '_And besides, it's better than thinking about how creepy this place is...'_

"Okay then," she said aloud, then took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She took a chance and flared her foxfire, but the darkness only receded a little. "Still don't have enough control," she muttered, frowning at her lack of skill. Now what? Should she get the crazy woman's attention? Seemed like a good idea; maybe she could lose the woman somewhere in this surprisingly big house.

"...rous in...ere. Co...t...before..."

Haru couldn't make out what the woman was saying; her voice seemed muffled. Nevertheless, Haru could tell she was close. She took another deep breath to steel her nerves, turned back in the direction she was fairly sure she had come from, and shouted. "Catch me if you can!"

She turned and ran, her foxfire hovering along beside her as she fled down the hallway. She passed several doorways, several of them only slightly open and a few open completely like a yawning gulf of shadow. Several times she had to leap over piles of rubble as she ran, or more of those piles of rags such as what she had seen in the first room. She reached a T-intersection of hallways and paused, listening for any sound of pursuit, but heard nothing. She turned to look back the way she had come, but she couldn't see anything but the area lit by her foxfire—shrunken now to a sphere a couple feet wider than she could reach with her arms stretched out to the sides—and another pile of rags off to the side, just at the edge of the light. Something about it seemed odd, though...it looked like there was a stick or something poking out of it. Frowning, she edged closer, the light moving with her. The rags were faded and obviously quite old, and...was that a sword?

Haru squatted down for a closer look at the item in question. She hesitantly reached out and touched the hilt of the sword and the ragged bit of cloth that was tied to it. She tugged on it, and was stunned at how heavy it was; it wasn't unmanageable, not for her with her mixed youkai ancestry, but it was far from the lightweight sword she had expected. She pulled it loose of the rags and lifted it up; the tip bumped into the ceiling. With a lightly curved blade that broadened toward the tip and the long and, to her eyes at least, oddly angled hilt that curved in the opposite direction from that of the blade, the sword was over five feet long...! She hadn't ever seen a sword like it; though Asuna's probably matched it for sheer size, the style was completely different. She wiped some of the dust off of it and gave it a few experimental swings; the first one threw her so off balance that she nearly ended up on the floor, but she quickly got the hang of it. She thought the big blade was surprisingly easy to handle, not nearly as awkward as some of the other, more normal sized weapons she had been given to experiment with in Eva's resort. Finally, she swung it around and plopped the blade down resting on its side on her shoulder and upper arm in a motion so smooth it felt like she had been doing it all her life. She couldn't help but grin as she eyed the weapon. It was really quite pretty in her opinion, though the ragged bit of cloth hanging from the end of the hilt made it look a little messy...but that could be changed, right? Haru used her free hand to touch the cloth, which was stiff and fragile with age; some of it crumbled at her touch. A quick tug removed most of the cloth, which, now that she looked at it more closely, seemed to have some sort of writing on it, though it was so old and faded that it was completely unreadable. She decided it didn't matter anyway, as the rotten fabric quickly disintegrated in her hands. With that done, she looked back at the pile of rags and sticks she had taken the sword from, and froze.

What she had thought was a stick...wasn't a stick. It was old and faded and brown with age, but now that it had been disturbed and she could see the end of it poking up, its true identity was plainly obvious.

What Haru had taken for a pike of rags was, instead, a body, long dead and reduced to little more than bones.

Still holding the sword on her shoulder, Haru felt her stomach start to turn and whirled to face the other direction, dropping the sword as she fell to her knees and vomited. After a moment of shaking she sat up straighter, using a handkerchief to wipe her face clean as realization hit. That hadn't been the only pile of rags she had passed in this place. Not only that, but the sound that giant sword had made when it hit the floor hadn't been right; the sound had almost been...swallowed up. And...was she just imagining it, or was the air getting thin? She climbed to her feet, finding the effort disturbingly difficult, and again picked up the sword. Almost immediately the air seemed to clear, and the sphere of light created by her foxfire seemed to widen a little.

_die_

"Yee!" Haru squealed as she whirled around, brandishing the sword; the blade stuck in the wall and she had to tug on it a moment to free it. "Who's there?!" she demanded, her heart racing. As she eyed the unnatural darkness surrounding her. "I-I know you're there! I-I can...I can..." She trailed off, unsure how to describe what she was feeling. It wasn't a sensation produced by any of her _normal_ senses, that was for sure. It was more a...feeling of general malevolence, maybe? Like something wanted her to die. She had a brief vision of some future explorer entering the building only to stumble across a pile of rags and bones with tennis shoes and a big sword.

"G-get away from me!" Haru squealed, swinging the sword wildly around her. "Get _away_!" She swung the sword one final time so hard that she spun nearly in a circle and tripped over her own feet, hitting the floor. The sword dropped from her hand and the darkness immediately leapt forward, trying to overwhelm the light of her foxfire and close in around her. Haru screamed and snatched up the sword, and the darkness again retreated. She scrambled to her feet and backed up to the wall. "Y-you don't like this sword much, d-do you?" she asked, trying to put on a brave face in what she was quite sure was a vain attempt to scare away whatever was in the darkness.

'_I have to be careful,'_ she thought. '_This sword won't be enough to protect me. That other guy had it, but he died anyway. Maybe I should try to get that Shinmeiryu woman to help? Would she help me at all...?'_ It was a good question, Haru thought. She knew an even better question would be 'could the Shinmeiryu woman do _anything_?' Sure, the Shinmeiryu were trained to deal with horrible things like this, but they couldn't _all_ be as good at it as Setsuna or Konoka or Asuna, could they? And besides, someone would have to realize something was wrong in the first place, and Haru realized she hadn't heard the woman calling out for quite some time, now...had she left? Was she _dead_? Haru didn't know, but she _did_ know she couldn't count on that woman for anything at the moment.

"Come on, gotta think positive," she said aloud, more to hear the sound of her own voice and break the muffled _nothingness_ surrounding her. "I'll go...this way!" she said as she picked a direction and started walking.

After a moment, she realized she had sped up to nearly a run, and forced herself to slow back down to a walk. It was difficult...she could _feel_ the weight of the darkness around her, pressing in on her, and now that she had been turned around, she had no idea where she was in the house. She flared her foxfire again but, just like the last time, the darkness only retreated a little; she had bought herself a few minutes, perhaps, before the darkness again crept closer. She paused in the hallway as she came across another pile of bones and rags, this one different from the others she had seen. There were fewer rags, for one thing, and the multitude of bones were small...surprisingly so. It took her a moment of looking at a fairly short bone to realize that it was the same type as the bone she had looked at when she found the sword. This was a dead child...!

Haru made a mistake; she knelt down and put the sword down on the floor beside her.

The darkness leapt forward and Haru screamed, hands scrabbling for the sword as the darkness closed in, crushing the air from her lungs and devouring her screams before she could voice them.

"Zanmaken, Ni no tachi!" someone bellowed.

The darkness _shivered_, and exploded away from her, leaving Haru convulsing on the floor as she reflexively grabbed the hilt of the sword.

"Are you alright?"

Haru shuddered as she gathered her wits and finally looked up at her savior, the cat youkai woman she had glimpsed earlier, the one that had been chasing her, and she realized with a shock that she could see again without the need for her foxfire, which had been snuffed out by the darkness. Sunlight filtered in through boarded up windows and cracks in the walls, and as she looked down she realized she was curled up on the child's bones.

Haru screeched and scrambled away, the floor creaking ominously under her as she smacked her back hard against the wall behind her. She felt the floor shift under her and looked frantically at the cat youkai woman, but it was too late to ask for help; the floor collapsed under her, dropping her down into darkness as she screamed.

* * *

><p>"No!" Ikari Hikari screamed as she scrambled forward to the edge of the hole the half-youkai girl had fallen into. She ignored the child's remains on the floor beside her as she knelt beside the hole and looked in.<p>

"_Help me!"_ the girl screamed in the darkness below.

"Dammit!" Hikari snarled. She had just meant to scare the girl, test her skills like the ojou-sama had asked, not chase her into this horrible place...! She had just wanted to do Konoka-ojou-sama a favor, why had it come to this?! "Can you hear me?!" she shouted frantically, hoping the girl would respond, but, just like before when she had encountered the mass of darkness in the hallway, there was no response. "Dammit!" she said again as she held her sword out and gathered her ki, boosting it with a little of her youkai power. It was awkward to do the second form of the Evil Cutting Sword from such an angle, but that didn't matter; she had to save the girl.

"Zanmaken, Ni no tachi!" she bellowed as she swung the sword. As expected, the technique sent a wave of ki into the evil spirit without harming the girl, but, as she had thought, at this angle it was too weak, and the technique only cut into the shadow; the girl wasn't freed, or even revealed. Hikari was getting tired from the chase and the lack of an afternoon nap, and using that technique was difficult for a youkai in any case...nevertheless, she intended to save the girl, no matter what. She readied her sword again. "Zanmaken—what?!"

Something was moving in the blackness below...a long shape was swinging back and forth with great speed and power.

"...way from...e!"

Hikari's eyes widened and she quickly readied her sword. She paused a moment to gather the required ki, and again performed the technique. "Zanmaken, Ni no tachi!"

This time, the technique cut deeply enough into the mass of shadow to reveal a brilliant blue light—'_The girl's foxfire...!' _Hikari realized—and a shape that turned into the girl, hanging with one hand from the end of a broken floor joist as she swung that ridiculous sword she had picked up somewhere with the other, keeping the shadow at bay. She was in an incredibly precarious position, however...the wooden beam supporting her was old and half rotten, while the shadow, concentrated in the underground areas of the house, was doing its best to envelop her again.

"Climb up!" Hikari shouted at her. The girl looked back up at her, her eyes, wide, and nodded. Now, with the girl in plain sight and easily avoidable by someone of her skill, Hikari could focus on damaging the evil spirit that the girl had inadvertently awakened by ripping through the shimenawa that had been used to seal the house away from anyone who might stumble upon it.

"Zanmaken!"

The first form of the Evil Cutting Sword was _much_ easier to execute; it didn't involve accounting for a hostage, like the second form; Hikari liked that. Cutting evil spirits was one of her favorite things to do, and she was quite good at it. Still...this level of malevolence was more than she had ever faced before; it wouldn't go down easily. She was just glad it hadn't been fully released yet. She readied her sword again.

"Zanmaken!"

She saw that the girl had climbed up to a more secure position on the floor below, and stood looking nervously up at her, unwilling to let go of the silly oversized sword, the hilt of which she clutched with both hands. As she tried to figure out what to do next, she spotted a tendril of shadow creeping up toward the girl, and readied her sword to perform the technique again.

"Zanmaken...!"

That one seemed to do it; the shadow retreated further and hid, quivering in the darkness below. She flattened herself out on the floor, reaching down through the hole in the floor. "Give me your hand! Hurry!"

The girl looked indecisively up at her, then at the squirming mass of blackness below, and back up at Hikari. "But..."

"There's no time!" Hikari shouted. She wanted to wring the stupid girl's neck...! What was wrong with her, couldn't she see she was still in danger?! Every extra second spent in the house held the potential for disaster...! "If it's about the sword, throw the stupid thing up!"

"You're sure you'll catch it...?" the girl asked.

"Freakin..._yes_, I'll catch the stupid thing! Just _hurry!_" Hikari screamed at the girl. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she turned the sword to hold it by the blade and raised the hilt toward Hikari; she pulled it up and tossed it behind her, out of the way.

The floor creaked under her.

"Dammit, _hurry!_" she screamed. The girl pulled herself up to stand on the next floor down from Hikari, then jumped up and grabbed her hands just as the blackness surged upward. Hikari yanked her out of the hole and dragged her to her feet, a feat that would have been impossible for any but the strongest humans, but which was only a little tough for a youkai. "Hurry! We have to get out of here...!" she screamed as she looked around, trying to figure out where they were. "Dammit...!"

The girl picked up her sword and propped it up on her shoulder before turning to Hikari. "How do we get out?"

Hikari looked around, frustrated. The light that had been filtering through the cracks in the walls earlier was gone; she realized with a start that the only source of light was the girl's foxfire, which had followed her up. "Dammit!" she snarled. '_I didn't realize it was trying to circle around behind me instead of hiding...!' _"Okay then," she said, almost to herself. "If you're not gonna let me find the way out, I'll just make a new one...! _Zantetsusen!" _

Hikari bellowed out the name of the technique, watching in smug satisfaction as it blew through the frail wall she had aimed it at, followed by another wall and another, revealing a hole to the outside world. The Iron Cutting Sword, one of her favorite techniques next to the Raimeiken and Zanmaken, had many uses...though this was the first time she had used it to exit a building. She grabbed the girl's hand. "Come on! It doesn't want us to leave!" she shouted as she took off running toward the exit. A quick glance back showed the girl was keeping up with her just fine in spite of the ridiculous sword she refused to let go of. The evil spirit haunting the place may not have wanted to them to leave, but it couldn't do much about the sunlight coming through the hole, not unless it brought its main body up out of the basement...even as they neared the exit, one final billow of smoky blackness crossed in front of them and dissipated in the sunlight, and then they were out in the real world again and the two of the collapsed on the ground in the sunlight that filtered through the trees, struggling to catch their breath.

"...I should have known that was you, Ikari."

Hikari looked up at the tall, elegant woman with the long hair and oversized katana standing over her, and couldn't help but grin as she panted. "Fancy...fancy seeing you here, Tomiko...gah...Tsukiko-san," she said, nodding at the shorter figure in the straw hat, squatting down comfortably next to Aoyama Tomiko. The straw hat dipped in a nod of acknowledgment.

"And you're one of our invaders, aren't you?" Tomiko said as she looked at the girl, who, to Hikari's admiration, heaved herself to her feet, stood up straight, and looked Tomiko in the eye with only a slight tremble. That was quite an accomplishment; though Tomiko couldn't hold a candle to Aoyama Tsuriko, when she wanted to intimidate someone, they tended to notice, to put it mildly. Most people simply wet their pants when Tomiko's attention was focused on them. Hikari figured the girl was probably still on the adrenalin high she got from nearly getting herself eaten by living darkness, but still. '_Good job, girl._'

"I'm...I'm Endo Haru, from Mahora. And..." the girl said, trailing off as if unsure of what to say, "...and as long as you've been lured out here, you can't do anything to stop my friends!" she said. Hikari's admiration for her got bumped up another notch at the defiant look in the girl's eye. Of course it was probably mostly post-battle elation, but still...

Aoyama Tomiko, one of the most feared women in the Shinmeiryu, grinned and tousled Haru's hair. "You're right; good job on that, though you have caused us a little more trouble than you might think..." she said, turning to look up at the house.

"The...the shadows?" Haru asked.

"That's right," Tomiko replied.

"She ran right through the shimenawa, as if it wasn't even there," Hikari said as she finally climbed to her feet. "I've never seen anything like it."

Tsukiko stood up, revealing herself to be only a little shorter than Tomiko, who was roughly the height of Haru and Hikari. She moved up to Haru and leaned in close, reaching up to tip the straw hat back so she could see Haru's face.

"You _are_ a strong one, aren't you..." she said, grinning crookedly. Hikari noticed that Haru looked a little taken aback, but Tsukiko tended to have that effect on people. "This blade, though..." she said, looking at the big sword Haru carried. "Where did you get it?"

"I...I found it inside...is that okay? Did you...did you want it back...?" she asked, her elation at having survived her encounter with a powerful spirit finally dieing. Hikari thought it was a little amusing, the way her expression turned from defiant to pleading so quickly.

"No...if you found it in there, I don't think its old master has need of it any longer. Take care of it; it's not your average sword," Tsukiko replied, then cackled laughter as she turned to regard the house. "Where was the spirit?" she asked. Tomiko looked back at them, waiting.

"In the basement," Hikari replied. "If you take the, ah, 'new door', you'll find a hole in the floor about fifty feet or so in; its main body is pretty much straight down."

"Let's go," Tsukiko said as she started toward the hole Hikari had made for her escape. Tomiko bobbed her head at Haru and Hikari and followed; soon, the two of them were lost to sight, and Hikari led Haru further away from the house.

"Is that...is that okay?" Haru asked, looking nervously at her as they walked along under the trees.

Hikari chose a suitable spot and settled down in the shade of a tree to wait; she really needed her afternoon nap... "Yeah, it's fine. Tsukiko-san's an expert in onmyodo, you know, and Tomiko's, well...Tomiko. If the two of them can't take care of that spirit, we've got bigger problems than—"

The house exploded. That was the only way Hikari could describe it; it was as if someone set off a bomb inside the house. The walls went up and out, the roof flew up and came apart, and Hikari just watched with her mouth hanging open, dumbstruck, until Haru shoved her down and dragged her next to the tree trunk. '_Tomiko and Tsukiko were in there...'_ she thought in shock. '_There's no way they could have survived that! What happened? It couldn't have been a bomb; that house has been sealed up for a hundred years or more. Did Tsukiko lose control of a spell? Was the spirit stronger than I thought?'_ All these thoughts and more raced through her mind as the debris began to fall. Haru yelped, and Hikari glanced over to see her pressing her hand to a small cut on her leg, where a shard of glass had fallen through the branches and hit her.

Then the ground began to shake.

* * *

><p>Haru yelped again as the ground began to shake violently, and forgot all about the tiny cut on her leg as she looked up at the spot where the house had once stood. Debris was still falling from the sky when a huge black shaped heaved itself up from the ruins, little shadowy tendrils reaching out and grabbing tree branches, debris from the house, anything they touched. She gasped as she spotted the two squirming figures it held, the two women from the Shinmeiryu...! The evil spirit shook them violently, then tossed them aside to land somewhere deep in the forest.<p>

"We have to go...!" Haru said frantically as she tugged on Hikari's arm. "Come on!" She let go when Hikari finally stood up. "Hurry!"

"No," Hikari said, her tone solemn as she dusted herself off and stretched.

"What?! We have to go!" Haru repeated. What was _wrong_ with the woman?! Haru wondered if the sight of the other two getting thrown away somewhere had made her snap or something. "That thing's dangerous!" she said, grabbing Hikari's arm with both hands.

"And that is why I have to do what I can to stop it," Hikari replied, her face expressionless as she eyed the spirit, measuring it up. She abruptly shook off Haru's grip and strode out into the open air and took a quick draw stance, facing the spirit as it lurched around, its quivering body a twisting, billowing mass of shadow, bloated with the power it had absorbed from its many victims over the years.

"But Hikari-san...!" Haru pleaded, using the cat youkai's name for the first time.

"Take up your sword; you may need it," Hikari said, glancing at her. She made a small smile, then turned her attention back to the spirit. "Hey! _You!_" she bellowed, her voice painfully loud to Haru's ears. It was enough to get the spirit's attention, however, as its movements immediately shifted to focus on her. She drew her sword in a single swift motion. "Zanma—_gurk_!"

Haru watched, eyes wide in horror, as a shadowy tentacle spiked out of the evil spirit's body and speared Hikari in the stomach. The cat youkai's ki attack went off target, digging into the ground and blasting up a spray of dirt and rocks as blood sprayed from the the exit wound made by the tentacle. The tentacle ripped itself back out and Hikari dropped to her knees, barely managed to keep her grip on her sword as she groaned.

"Hikari-san...!" Haru screamed, horrified. She took a step toward the cat youkai, but Hikari held up a hand to stop her, and turned her head to look at her.

"H...Haru...san..." She coughed, spray blood into her hand. "Use your...use your sword..."

"No! We have to get you to a doctor, we have to—"

"_Silence!" _Hikari roared like one accustomed to command; the force of it clearly caused her a great deal of pain, and her next words were softer, each word spoken with great effort . "It's too late...can't run. It'll catch up before...before you could out of the forest..."

"Hikari-san..." Haru said helplessly as she saw how pale the cat youkai's face had become. Hikari turned back to look at her and opened her mouth to speak, but the evil spirit chose that moment to make its next move. One moment, Haru was looking at Hikari as she knelt on the ground in front of her, weak and in pain; the next, the tentacle swung through the air and took Hikari full in the side and with a startled grunt she was gone, flying silently through the air to disappear into the forest somewhere off to the left.

Haru screamed at the suddenness of it, fearfully, uncontrollably, she screamed. This was worse that that duel with Rex at the youkai festival, this was even worse than that awful training in Eva's resort...! She hadn't ever been so scared before in her whole life!

'**Idiot, **_**run**_**!' **the other Haru roared in her head, further muddling her thoughts. '_**RUN!'**_ she screamed.

Haru scrambled back without looking where she was going and tripped over a tree root, hitting the ground hard on her butt, the other Haru's terrified screams in her head and her own fear threatening to block out her own thoughts. '_Hikari's dead she's gotta be dead it KILLED her speared her swatted her like a fly gone blood everywhere Haru's screaming is driving me crazy oh my God it's coming after me what am I gonna do its gonna kill me I don't wanna die somebody help me save me no no no nonononoNONONON**ONONO**—'_

Haru's hand touched something, and with a strange mental shiver, her mind emptied and became clear as a bell.

_'...what...?'_

Her terror and confusion were still present, just...pushed aside by whatever was giving her this sensation of calm, whatever had put her into this slow, almost dreamlike state; even the other Haru's incoherent screaming seemed muffled, unimportant. With an effort of will, she turned her head to look down at her hand, and saw it was touching the hilt of the enormous sword she had found in the big house before its destruction, left forgotten, dropped in the underbrush. Without thinking, she grabbed the hilt of the sword.

Reality came rushing back and she scrambled to her feet, sword in hand, and lunged aside, narrowly evading the same tentacle that had speared poor Hikari-san. Almost without conscious thought, she swiveled on her heel and brought the sword down across the tentacle; it was a clumsy blow, utterly untrained, but nevertheless, the sword cut through the tentacle and the spirit let out a horrible screech Haru felt in her very soul and she realized, startled, that it was scared.

And Haru...Haru was _not_.

She was nervous, true. Her youkai ears were twitching, her eyes were darting back and forth taking in every last detail, her pulse was racing, and yet...she wasn't scared. '_Is it because of the sword?'_ she wondered as she nimbly sidestepped the wild swing of a tentacle as the spirit flailed at her. Her mind was clear, and the fatigue from what she had gone through in the house was gone...or perhaps pushed aside. She knew the situation she was in was incredibly dangerous—trained professionals had maybe-possibly been killed by the evil spirit thing already—but she knew she she couldn't turn and run; the spirit would do to her what it had done to Hikari the instant her back was turned. She lunged aside almost lazily as the spirit tried spearing her again; it missed, kicking up dirt as the end of its tentacle dug into the ground. Haru took the opportunity to hack off another chunk of it, this one a good eight feet long. The spirit screeched again, the sound only audible within her head, as it frantically drew back its tentacle. She looked down at the piece she had cut off; it was already dissolving, pale purple steam leaking out of it and dissipating as it shrunk away to nothing in the dappled sunlight. It was in this moment that her strangely enhanced mind caught upon an idea.

She knew from extensive experience watching and training with Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna that the Shinmeiryu used swords to channel their ki; she didn't have any ki to speak of, but could she do the same thing with her youkai power...?

"This is crazy," she said aloud as she held the sword out in front of her and concentrated on harnessing her power the way Youko had shown her. It was right where she had expected it to be, a vast well of warmth hidden away in her soul, startling in its strength...Haru had been scared of it for the longest time; it hadn't been until Youko had forced her into training that she had begun to learn to accept its presence. She still didn't trust it, but in a life or death situation such as the one she found herself in now, mistrust was a luxury she couldn't afford. She felt a brief moment of panic, but it was quickly soothed away...or shunted aside. She gripped the hilt of the sword tightly in both hands, and her fears quickly faded, a quiet undercurrent to her thoughts. She focused on her power and forced it into the blade, which began to shake in her hands. The wind kicked up around her, blowing the grass and underbrush and picking up leaves in a whirling column as she awkwardly raised the sword over her head.

"Aaahhh...!"

It wasn't much of a shout, she knew, but she didn't care; as she swung, the power left the sword in a massive blast that shook the forest and uprooted a few small trees, and finished knocking down what little of the ancient house remained. The blast was unfocused, however, and while the spirit reared back from it, it did little damage to its intended target.

'_Too unfocused,'_ Haru thought, marveling at her clarity of thought. '_How did the others do it? Setsuna said it was like making your soul a sword, didn't she...?'_ Haru wouldn't admit it to anyone if she could help it, but she had, a couple times, taken one of the practice swords in Eva's resort and pretended to be Setsuna, complete with ass-kicking sword moves and sideways ponytail. She looked up to Setsuna; as soon as she found out the woman was a half-youkai like her and saw what she could do, Haru had seen her as a great example of what a half-youkai could be. Setsuna was kind, intelligent, graceful, pretty with those wings of hers...she was also, as Haru privately thought, _freaking awesome in every way._ The thing with Konoka was pretty weird, but she brushed it aside; she had a feeling nobody could fend off Konoka for long...girl was _scary_. '_Now, how did that go...?'_ Haru thought as she moved the big sword down to her side, where she held it with the tip angled off to the side. She didn't have a sheath to put it in so she couldn't do any sort of quick draw like they did in anime, but the sword was really too big for that kind of thing anyway, she thought; it was the sort of sword you carried on your back, maybe, maybe even on some kind of sling, like Setsuna did with her own extra long sword. That seemed a little awkward, though...She supposed she would just have to carry it in her hand until she found something that felt _right_.

'_Gah, come on, concentrate, Haru...!' _Haru thought to herself. Luckily, from what she could see, the spirit didn't seem to be doing much other than quivering in place. '_Maybe it doesn't like the sunlight, or maybe it's scared...' _she thought.

Maybe it was scared? That was a thought Haru relished. She gripped the hilt of the sword just under the guard with her other hand gripping it just above the pommel, the way she had seen Setsuna do when using her nodachi; this stance felt better, more natural, than the overhead one she had adopted before, but something still felt a little off. She concentrated, moving her power into the sword, and the wind kicked up again, harder this time as it swirled around her. She brought the sword up diagonally and almost lost her grip on the hilt, she was so surprised at how easily it moved. The power she put into the sword flew off toward the spirit, a ragged, swirling mass of white energy, and impacted against the spirit's massive body. The explosion was startling in its intensity, and when the smoke cleared, Haru could see a huge chunk had been blown out of the spirit's body. Wide eyed, she looked down at the sword, which, she now realized, seemed to move better when she gripped it with one hand instead of two. The spirit was still alive, though, flailing violently and lashing out at everything around it. Even as she watched, one of its tentacles took up a wooden beam from the remains of the house and tossed it a hundred yards while another uprooted a small tree and swung it around. Haru took the same stance as before, this time only using one hand to grip the hilt and the other just supporting the pommel. A slight motion of her off hand moved the tip of the sword a surprising amount and she looked down at the sword, pleasantly surprised. '_It moves so _easy_,' _she thought, surprised just as much about liking the sword as much as she did as by the ease of movement of such a massive blade.

"Now," she muttered under her breath as the wind, stronger than before, whipped around, blowing her clothing as she again concentrated on pushing power into the blade. It took her a moment to realize pushing wasn't the correct way to go about it, and she started _directing_ power into it instead, and was delighted when the process went much more smoothly than before, and the sword pulsed with far more power than it had held the last time. With the sword charged up and ready to go, she shifted her feet slightly, looking for the position that felt most comfortable, wobbled the tip of the sword with the hand she supported the pommel with to get a better feel for it, and moved the sword around and up in a graceful arc, launching a sharp slice of energy at the spirit, expanding as it went. She allowed her body to keep moving as it followed through with the motion and the sword swung around and down, launching a second attack perpendicular to the first.

The first hit the spirit an instant later, slicing straight through it and making it freeze in place; the second cut hit the spirit across the first, again slicing straight through.

For a long, long moment, nothing happened.

Haru gasped when the spirit began to crumble, pieces falling off and turning to purple steam, which faded under the afternoon sun. It let out a low cry as it crumbled and collapsed in on itself, no longer able to function as its existence faded away to nothing.

Haru stood there for a moment in the devastated clearing, scarcely able to understand what had just happened. She looked down at the sword she was holding and realized her hands were shaking.

"I-I...I did it...I did it...!" She looked up at the demolished remains of the old house. "I did it! I did—" She cut off mid-sentence as she recalled what had happened to Hikari and the other two. "Hikari-san...!" she said, horrified, as she looked at the trees to the left. Had the woman died? Was she still alive, laying in the woods somewhere, all alone? Was she—

There, standing among the trees, she saw several figures, all dressed in the same red and white as the guards Haru's group had encountered upon first entering the compound.

Haru gulped. "U-um..."

"You did pretty well...for a newbie," one of them said, stepping forward to look at her sword. Haru stared at her for a moment before she realized she was a snake youkai. "Nice sword."

"Er...thanks," Haru said nervously.

"Yep, pretty good indeed; you saved me from having to put in any real effort," another one said, this one wearing two swords strapped to her back; Haru noticed that for some reason the right sleeve of the woman's uniform had been ripped off, and she kept rubbing her exposed shoulder. "Do you know how hard it is to fight somebody else when you've got _that_ thing in the woods behind you?" she asked rhetorically as she eyed the ruins of the house.

"Kekeke, I knew you had it in you to do something like that," a familiar voice said.

Haru's eyes went wide as she whirled to look at the newcomer. "But you were dead! I saw it throw you!"

Aoyama Tsukiko grinned under her straw hat, looking a little worse for wear, but basically all right. "I'm not _that_ easy to kill; none of us are. Still...you did well."

"I'll be sore for some time, I'm afraid," Aoyama Tomiko said as she limped up out of the trees. "But I'll survive."

"Then Hikari-san!" Haru said hopefully. "Is she okay? It hurt her..."

"She's already receiving medical assistance," the snake youkai woman said as she eyed the sword. "Hey, is that Chinese? It looks Chinese."

"I-I don't know," Haru said, her relief at Hikari's probable survival leaving her knees weak.

"Can I see it?" the snake youkai woman asked, smiling in what was probably intended to be a pleasant manner. Even with the human face she wore, the effect was disconcerting.

Haru looked from the snake woman to the sword and back, hesitated, and held it out, offering the hilt. "It's mine, Tsukiko-san said I could have it..."

"Don't worry, I'll give it back. It's just really cool looking..." the snake woman said as reached out and took hold of the handle of the sword. She abruptly jerked and looked up at Haru with wide eyes just as she let go of the sword.

Haru staggered as exhaustion crashed down on her, bringing with it the other Haru's demands to know what was going on, why Haru wasn't paying any attention to her, as well as a sense of shock at her earlier near-suicidal actions. With the sword finally out of her hands, Haru dropped to her knees on the ground as her stomach tried to heave up what little was left of her lunch. She was dimly aware of someone shouting as she fell over onto her side and curled up into a ball, and everything finally, mercifully, faded to black.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Believe it or not, Ikari Hikari has been seen in the Still Waters series before, as well as Chiba Usagi and Mizuhara Rie. If you can't remember where, check out Meet the New Class, Chapter 27: Kondo Kai._

_Now, about Haru's sword. It's a powerful artifact. I won't go into any details of its abilities at the moment, but it's the sort of thing that tends to pop up in myths and legends. As for what type of sword it is, I based it on a 'Bagua Dao', as it's commonly called on the internet; I don't know if that's the proper name. It's basically a huge version of a Chinese Dao type sword; there are some excellent videos on youtube showing its use, one in particular with an old guy doing a demonstration showing how smoothly one of these swords can be used. Do yourself a favor and look it up; it may dispel some mistaken ideas about big swords being slow.  
><em>


	31. Ch 27 A Fox In Kyoto Part 3

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 27: A Fox In Kyoto, Part 3**

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><p><em>Slight Language Warning<em>

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><p>The interior of the main house, Keiko thought as she peeked around a corner, wasn't as richly decorated as she had assumed it would be. She slipped down the hall and stepped into a broom closet, carefully pulling the door shut as quietly as she could until the pair of servants she had overheard talking passed by.<p>

The place was certainly impressive, even without all the fancy decoration one might expect in a mansion the size of the Konoe main house. Most of what she had seen thus far seemed designed to be simple, functional...definitely not the stereotypical frilly nonsense associated with aristocratic types on TV. For the most part, anyway. She _had_ stumbled across a couple areas of a fancier sort, but overall the place looked far more normal and down to earth than she had expected.

'_So this is where those two grew up...' _Keiko thought as she waited for the sound of the servants' footsteps to fade. It was interesting, she decided, to imagine much younger versions of Konoka and Setsuna running through these halls, noisy in their play...

She froze. Something was coming...

She could just barely hear the other person's footsteps as they moved swiftly in the hall until they came to the door she was hiding behind; she could see the other person's shadow moving through the crack of light at the bottom of the door.

The door opened, and Youko stood on the other side, looking at her in surprise for a moment before she squeezed into the small closet alongside Keiko, forcing her to press herself against a shelf in the tiny room, and pulled the door shut, motioning for Keiko to be quiet.

The two of them stood in the cramped space for a long, tense moment before Keiko heard a muffled conversation out in the hallway.

"...thank y...taro...in..."

"No, it...and when she asked...couldn't..."

Keiko frowned, wishing her hearing was as good as Youko or Haru's, even without their youkai ears popped out.

"No no, I must insist; thank you, Urashima-san," a young man said on the other side of the door. "Without your assistance today..."

"No no! It's okay, I mean it! When Motoko-chan asked me for help, I couldn't say no, you know?" a man replied, clearly trying to be excessively polite.

"Yeah, you really _couldn't_ refuse. Especially not after you 'helped yourself' during that '_accident'_ with the rake as soon as we arrived. Isn't that right, _Kei-Ta-Ro-kun?_" a woman said sharply, drawing out the man's name in a mock-playful manner.

"Narusegawa-san~...!" the man whined.

"That's 'Urashima-san' or 'My lovely waifu~' to _you_, mister." This proclamation was accompanied by a baby's giggle.

"Yes, My Lovely Waifu," the man, evidently named 'Keitaro', replied, saying the last part in surprisingly good English.

"Hahaha! You three are so _cute_! Do you ever wanna have a baby, Daisuki-kun?" a cute sounding girl chirped.

"Don't call me that; my name's 'Daisuke'..." the younger man replied, clearly embarrassed.

"Heh~ You're funny too, Daisuki-kun~" the cute girl said.

Keiko glanced at Youko in the dim light filtering in around the cracks in the door and mouthed '_What's happening?'_ Youko just glanced at her and shrugged, then turned her attention back to the conversation outside.

"But anyway!" Keitaro said in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "Takeda-san, right? Where did you want me to go?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I haven't shown you yet! It's this way," 'Takeda-san' replied, the sound of his voice fading as he led the other two away down the hall.

When their voices had faded from hearing, Keiko relaxed and twisted around to move the spray bottle that had been jabbing her in the side ever since Youko squeezed in next to her. "Urashima Keitaro? Do you think he's related to Taro-san?" Keiko whispered.

"I don't know," Youko replied. "There are a lot of Urashimas around, you know? Anyway, this place has got me all turned around...do you know where we are?"

"I...think so," Keiko said, her mind racing. "You don't know the layout?"

"It was a lot smaller back before I got locked up," Youko said, shrugging. "This wasn't the main house then anyway, so I didn't spend much time here. So, which way?"

Keiko frowned as she tried to recall what little she knew of the layout of the mansion and compared it to what she had seen thus far. Konoka had provided some details, but she had grown up in the place; there would be a great many things she simply took for granted and wouldn't think to tell others. Still, from what Keiko had seen, the two of them were already quite near the center of the building; she was a little worried about the others, Setsuna and Konoka and especially Haru, but for now, she had to focus on taking care of herself and making sure Youko got to the armory. And the armory would be... Her face paled.

"...they just went toward the armory, didn't they?" Youko asked. Keiko nodded. "Damn... Is there a way to circle around before they get there?"

Keiko thought quickly. The main hallways wouldn't work; they'd have to waste time avoiding servants and the occasional guard, but there probably weren't any major hallways leading to the armory anyway. There _were_ a few side passages that led toward it, but the final approach was through a special room, no doubt built and designed with defense in mind. If she recalled correctly, and she was quite sure she did, there was potential access to the final series of rooms through the small guards' quarters on the East side of the armory...that would work, if they were careful. "There is, but we have to hurry," Keiko said as she opened the door a very small amount and used a hand mirror she took from her backpack to make sure the hall was empty. "Let's go."

They stepped out into the hall, Keiko pulling the door shut behind them, and headed off down the hall to the left. Keiko paused before crossing the intersection where Keitaro and Daisuke and the others had gone, and then darted across when she was sure it was clear. Keiko's eyes darted back and forth, taking in every little detail as they hurried along in near silence, their breath and the rustling of their clothes as they moved were the only sound the duo made. Keiko finally came to a stop at another intersection of hallways, a little out of breath, and again used her small hand mirror to check if the hallway they were about to turn down was empty. She nodded to Youko, and again, off they went.

Keiko was breathing pretty hard by the time they approached the next intersection. '_Just past this intersection is the entrance to the room we're looking for. Go through that and the next room, and then we should come out ahead of them if they keep the same pace, and then it won't matter if they see us, since we can just run to the armory. Okay, not too far now, not too—' _Several things happened at once.

"Hey, you said your bathroom was over here, right?" someone said just in front of them.

Keiko almost screamed as a man walked out of the intersection right in front of her, too close for her to stop. Youko, caught off guard, plowed right into her from behind before she could stop, bowling both Keiko and the stranger over.

"Keitaro...!" a woman shouted, startled.

Keiko squirmed out from between Youko and the strange man, and had just stood up when a boy several years older than she was pointed at her and shouted.

"They're the intruders!"

"What the hell?!" Youko said, struggling to get away as Keitaro's head had somehow became stuck in the collar of her shirt. "What are you _doing?! _Get away from me!" she said, trying to push him away.

"_I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Narusegawa don't kill me!" _came the muffled response from within the soft and shadowy confines of Youko's shirt as Keitaro flailed his arms in a valiant attempt to escape. A woman groaned nearby, and Keiko looked over to catch a glimpse of a very pretty long haired woman holding a baby evidently trying to laugh its head off as it looked at Youko and Keitaro.

"Urashima-san, take care of her! I'll get the other one!" a serious-looking young man said, evidently the 'Daisuke' from earlier.

"Wait for me, Daisuki-kun!" a ditzy looking flat-chested girl said. She wore the tradition red and white uniform of the Shinmeiryu, as Daisuke did.

Keiko had seen enough; she turned and fled. A quick glance back showed that Youko had not yet managed to extricate Urashima Keitaro's head from her shirt, but Keiko didn't care about that at the moment; Daisuke and the ditzy girl were chasing after her, and rapidly gaining.

Keiko ran down the hallway and darted down another hall at the first intersection she came to, slipping off her backpack as she did so. She heard the ditzy girl yelp behind her as she tried to take the corner too fast and ran into a wall, far too close for Keiko's liking, and quickly dug out one of the strings of firecrackers she had acquired before leaving Mahora, then dug her lighter out of her pocket. She paused just long enough to flick the lighter and light the fuse on the string of firecrackers, and then took off running, watching the fuse as it burned down; what she was doing was risky, but if she had thrown it right after lighting it, the two chasing her were close enough to have run right past it before anything happened. The fuse burned quickly, and when it was almost at the first firecracker, she threw it behind her. Keiko flinched; she had cut it _far_ too close...the firecrackers started going off half a second after she tossed them back. In any case, they had the desired effect; the girl behind her screamed in surprise at the machine-gun pop of the firecrackers exploding practically in her face, and the boy let out a startled shout.

Keiko took the opportunity to turn at the next intersection, silently thanking whoever had designed the place for its mazelike layout, and then darted into the first open door she came across. A quick glance showed her she was in luck; this was a bedroom, and a rather modern and fancy one at that; several large pieces of furniture sat along the walls. She quickly dug a spool of fishing line out of her backpack and tied the end around the leg of the dresser near the door, then let out a few feet of line as she backed up, leaving it draped loosely across the floor in front of the door; she held the spool in her hand and hid beside the wall, waiting.

She heard running footsteps, and a moment later the boy from earlier ran into the room. Keiko jerked the line taut and the boy tripped over it and hit the floor as he let out a surprised shout, his weight and momentum ripping the spool from her hands.

"Daisuki-kun!" The ditzy girl was right behind him. Keiko tossed another lit string of firecrackers to buy herself some time; their startlingly loud sound in the small room left her ears ringing as she dug through her backpack and the other girl screamed in surprise.

"Are you _crazy?!_" she demanded. Keiko threw a small bag at the girl's face in response; Keiko wasn't athletic by any definition of the word, she didn't have the hand-eye coordination of a veteran gamer, and she didn't have the killer instinct of a veteran fighter, either. What she did have, however, was a quick mind and roughly four feet of space between the ditzy girl and herself...she couldn't miss.

The small bag exploded into a cloud of flour upon impact with the girl's face, leaving her gasping and flailing her hands. Keiko wasted no time, and booted the girl in the stomach. It wasn't much of a hit, but it took the girl by surprise and she doubled over. The boy was starting to get up, so she threw a flour bomb at him; luck was with her, as even though she missed, the little bag hit the floor directly under his face as he pushed himself up on his hands and knees, and he got a face full of flour for his efforts. Keiko whirled to face the other girl, who was trying to wipe flour out of her eyes, and yanked the top half of her uniform open and down, temporarily trapping her arms by her sides; the girl yelped in surprise as Keiko gave her a shove that caught her off balance, making her fall backward onto the western-style bed that sat against the wall opposite the door. Keiko, really huffing by this point from the violent action of the previous five seconds, turned back to the boy, who was struggling to clear the flour from his eyes as he sat up on his knees. Keiko took a deep breath and threw herself at his head.

The boy's yelp of surprise was much like ditzy girl's.

He fell backward under Keiko's sudden weight, his arms flailing, and Keiko snagged his wrist with the pair of handcuffs she had taken out of her backpack and put into her pocket seconds earlier. She yanked the boy, half blinded by flour as he tried to get back up, off balance and he fell on his side. Keiko grabbed his other wrist and, with all the strength she could muster, dragged it close enough to his other to close the handcuffs around it as well, but not before passing the handcuffs around one of the rails of the bed's frame. Keiko quickly scrambled back out of reach.

"Hey! _Hey!_ Let me go, right now!" the boy demanded, fuming as he squinted at her.

The ditzy girl finally freed herself of her mangled uniform top to fully reveal the sarashi she wore and fell off the bed, landing on the boy, who let out a startled grunt and squirmed, demanding to be released until he realized who was lying on top of him, and her state of dress. After that, he got very, very quiet as his nose started to drip red.

Keiko surveyed the devastation for a moment. '_I'll have to apologize later for the state of this room...' _she thought nervously. There was flour spilled here and there, several knickknacks and other small objects had fallen off the furniture, and the whole room stank of fireworks, not to mention the burn mark on the floor where the firecrackers had gone off.

"Ah! You hurt Daisuki-kun!" the girl said, something in her voice sending a bolt of fear through Keiko.

"N-no I didn't...!" Keiko said. She knew how pathetic her denial sounded, but she couldn't think of anything better to say. It was the truth, anyway...! She hadn't hurt him at all, just knocked him down, threw flour in his face...handcuffed him to a bed...she probably owed him an apology, actually. But still! "I didn't hurt him!" she said again, hating the sound of fear in her voice.

The ditzy girl glared and her ki spiked, causing a brisk breeze to kick up in the room, further wrecking it as a picture frame fell off the wall and flour, which had previously been limited to a few spots, went _everywhere_. "You did too! His nose is bloody!" she said, pointing.

Keiko looked down at the boy and saw that his nose was, indeed, bloody. "I didn't do it!" she said frantically as she backed up.

"Liar...!"

"She's not lying, Moe-chan..." the boy said, looking away.

The wind buffeting the room slowed to a stop as the girl, 'Moe-chan', looked at the boy handcuffed to the bed. "She's not...? But your poor nose..." she said, kneeling down to dab at his nose with a handkerchief.

"...I'm sorry, Moe-chan," he said pitifully as he looked away. His gaze fell on her discarded uniform top and he quickly looked away, focusing on the burned spot on the floor.

"Huh?" Moe asked.

Keiko passed the handcuff key to the girl and decided to leave the boy's half-dressed-girl-induced nosebleed to the two of them to figure out. She went out into the hallway, making sure to pull the door shut behind her, and paused, looking both ways uncertainly.

'..._how do I get back to where Youko was?'_

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><p>Konoka heaved a sigh as she trudged through the forest. <em>'I want my Secchan...' <em>she thought, pouting. This whole thing had been a mess from almost the very beginning! Youko was just too flighty, in Konoka's opinion. The plan hadn't been to split up; then again, Youko hadn't seemed very interested in having much of a plan in the first place. How did she expect to become the next Youkai King without a plan? Konoka rolled her eyes as she paused by a large tree to get her bearings. While she had known these woods like the back of her hand as a child, she hadn't truly explored them since before moving to Mahora for school; things had changed since then. '_A _lot_ of things,'_ Konoka thought, grinning...her relationship with her Secchan, for one; Secchan's willingness to accept the obvious when it came to the two of them, for another.

"I wonder where she is..." Konoka said aloud as she corrected her course and headed toward where she was sure the main house was located. It wasn't that she was _worried_ about Setsuna... Well, not _much. _Konoka frowned.

'_I hope she's okay...'_

She knew it was irrational, especially here at home, but after what happened back in high school, when Setsuna was... Konoka shivered and shunted those terrible memories aside. She knew in her head that Setsuna would be fine, but in her heart...in Konoka's heart, she never wanted to let Setsuna out of her sight ever again; she wanted to keep her safe by her side forever and ever, and never let her go. She knew it was silly, but that didn't change the way she felt. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn't cage her Secchan that way; it would be inhuman. Her Secchan needed to fly, and that was that. A branch snapped somewhere nearby, and she froze.

"Ah...it seems I'm unlucky today," a woman said, sounding resigned.

"...how did you ever manage to beat me?" another woman said, clearly irritated, her voice slightly muffled.

Konoka's eyebrow twitched. She knew those two; she'd recognize their voices anywhere...Aoyama Etsuko, and Aoyama Natsuki. Etsuko was infamous among the members of the Shinmeiryu for her inexplicable bouts of bad luck; things might go well for weeks or even a month or more, and then suddenly she would find herself besieged by a streak of bad luck that could include anything from breaking a shoelace to accidentally setting fire to the barracks. Konoka suppressed a sigh; the latter had happened four times since Etsuko came to live at the main compound. No one knew why it happened, there were no curses or anything of the sort laid on the woman, and yet the truth was unmistakable; Aoyama Etsuko attracted bad luck. Konoka was one of the few who seemed to have noticed that when Etsuko had bad luck, those around her did _not..._ to an extent. Being inside a building Etsuko had just accidentally set fire to couldn't be called lucky by any stretch of the imagination, and she was permanently banned from ever operating a motor vehicle or any sort of heavy machinery for very valid reasons, many of which involved such things as motors exploding, hydraulic systems suddenly springing leaks, and blown out tires. Etsuko tried hard to fit in, training her body and her skills and going to quite a bit of trouble to project the image of what she thought a proper samurai should be; her appearance was neat and trim at all times, from the spotlessness of her red and white uniform to her long samurai ponytail, she did everything she could to bring honor to her family and sword school, even going so far as to carry that odd little two-bladed clawlike weapon that had been passed down through her family line for generations.

Even so, none of Etsuko's efforts succeeded in distracting anyone around her from her reputation except for the other Aoyamas, and even most of _them _avoided her. Aoyama Natsuki was one of the few who would have anything to do with her...probably because Natsuki herself was quite the outcast as well. While Etsuko did everything she could to be a proper samurai, Natsuki had taken the opposite path; where Etsuko followed the traditional ways of the samurai, Natsuki took pains to distance herself from the rest. She didn't use a sword; she used a set of blades that fit on her fingers like oversized claws. She wore a heavily modified version of the traditional Shinmeiryu uniform designed with ninja-like secrecy and ease of movement in mind, with her long, unruly black hair tied back with the cloth she always wrapped around her head, covering her whole face except for the space around her eyes, so it stuck out the back. Natsuki, a tall woman with an odd sense of humor, was quite off-putting even without her eccentric fashion sense, so Konoka supposed it wasn't very surprising that she got along so well with the _other_ black sheep of the Aoyama family.

At the very least, Natsuki had given Konoka candy when she was a child.

Konoka frowned, frozen in place behind a tree where they couldn't see her as they walked past. She knew fighting the two of them here would be meaningless; it was a lucky thing Etsuko had stepped on that fallen branch. Youko was far away, probably even at the main house already if Konoka was any judge, and her Secchan was off somewhere too...Konoka thought she saw her run off with Keiko-chan back when they were first attacked by Hikari-san's group. Hikari was probably taking care of Haru like Konoka had asked over the phone before they even left Mahora, leaving Konoka all by her lonesome in the woods, bringing up the rear. All she had to do was make it to the mansion, though she would almost certainly arrive too late to help Youko in any way. Still...she would try, just to see the look on her Secchan's face.

Konoka waited until Etsuko and Natsuki's conversation faded in the distance before she started to move, but when she did, a spot of color beside the tree caught her attention. She looked back in the direction the other two had gone, then down at the brightly wrapped piece of candy, and sighed. If Etsuko had seen her, she would have insisted on a duel... Konoka shook her head; she'd have to thank Natsuki later for not exposing her.

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><p>Konoka sucked on the piece of candy Natsuki had left her as she walked through the woods toward the main house, her step light as she listened to the sounds of a sword duel ahead; she couldn't help but grin as she heard her Secchan shout, followed by the clang of metal on metal. She slowed as the trees thinned out, flitting from cover to cover as she went. She pressed the piece of candy against the inside of her cheek as she crept forward and poked her head out from behind a particularly large tree, providing her with an excellent view of the open space before her. She spotted her Secchan right away, her clothing disheveled and sweat pouring down her body from the heavy workout she was getting, facing Tsuruko. Tsuruko's younger sister Motoko stood watching the duel. Konoka watched for a long, long moment, entranced.<p>

Setsuna fought differently when they weren't together or with any of their friends in Negi's group; Konoka had known this for some time. But to see it, to see _her_, moving as she was moving, completely focused on her opponent and forcing herself to achieve what she had never been able to before...Konoka wanted to rush out there and make another pactio with her. And, best of all, Konoka thought with a smile, Setsuna was doing _incredibly _well against Tsuruko. Both sported half a dozen small cuts, but both were grinning, Tsuruko with her bloodlust, and Setsuna with the joy of battle. They exchanged blows time and time again, their movements precise and so, so quick that Konoka had a hard time following them, as far away as she was. She started to shifted her position slightly in preparation to move closer when Motoko's head snapped up and she looked straight at her for a moment, and made a pleasant smile.

Konoka froze mid step, but it was too late.

"_There_ you are, ojou-sama," someone said behind her.

She knew there was no point in trying to hide her presence anymore. How did everyone keep sneaking up on her?! She glanced behind her and, sure enough, Aoyama Sayuri, who had several times forced even Tsuruko to go all out in a duel, stood behind her, tall and sure of herself. "...hello, Sayuri-san," Konoka said weakly. While she might have had a chance against Etsuko or Natsuki, Sayuri was way out of her league. So far out of her league, in fact, that she wouldn't even have a chance to draw her sword if Sayuri decided to attack.

'_Why did I even come here today...?'_ she thought to herself, pouting as Sayuri marched her out of the trees and into the yard. She had just gotten into fight after fight, all of them but the first one meaningless, and she had even hurt Koyomi! Well, she had fixed her up again afterward, but still.

She noted absently that Setsuna and Tsuruko were in a standoff, their swords locked together. Konoka met Setsuna's gaze and did her best to give her an energizingly cute smile, but she was afraid it came across a little sickly instead. Sayuri marched her up by the koi pond and moved to stand opposite.

"Well? Who will it be? Will you choose to face Motoko, or me?" Sayuri demanded, her eyes dancing with amusement despite her dead-serious expression.

Konoka tried to hold back a grimace at that. Sayuri _had_ to be kidding...either face her, or Motoko? What kind of horrible choice was that? Either one would easily wipe the floor with her...! Motoko would be worse, however, as she had taken a personal interest in Konoka's growth and had had a hand in training her. And, while Sayuri wasn't at Motoko's level, she was no slouch either; she lead a squad in the Third Mercenary Force for a _reason_ after all. Konoka bit her lip as she looked from Sayuri to Motoko and back, then glanced over at Setsuna, who was really starting to struggle as she exchanged blows with Tsuruko. "I...ah...can we...do this tomorrow?"

"I am afraid not," a new voice said.

Konoka turned to the newcomer and a flicker of hope began to grow in her heart. "Daddy!"

Konoe Eishun tried to hold back a fatherly smile; it came out as a crooked grin. "I have just returned home, and I find my house is under attack? This will not do..."

Konoka blinked a couple times, nervousness dawning as she looked at him. "Daddy...? What are you..." She trailed off as he stripped off his suit jacket and handed it to his driver, who passed him a sheathed katana. "...Daddy?"

He made another of those crooked grins as he pulled his sword from its sheath, which he passed to his driver. He stood facing her, his sword held loosely in his hand. "Come then, draw your sword."

Konoka just gaped at him.

"..."

"..." Konoka answered silence with silence, her mind reeling. '_Daddy wants to fight me? Why? I'm __tired of fighting! Can't we just get along...? I hate all of this; we're all friends! We shouldn't be fighting...'_

"Any time now," Eishun said patiently.

Konoka was dimly aware that Tsuruko and Setsuna had stopped fighting and were watching the two of them, along with Motoko and Sayuri. She glanced over at Tsuruko and Setsuna nervously, saw the worried look on Setsuna's face, torn between worry for Konoka and wanting to see her in action, and couldn't help but smile a little. Her Secchan was just too cute...!

"_Eyes forward!"_ Eishun barked, and something in Konoka jerked her into motion. She brought her sword up just in time to deflect Eishun's attack.

"You must always be aware of your opponents, Konoka. You could have died in eighteen different ways just then," Eishun said, shifting into a stance that brought his sword up beside his head.

Konoka's eyes widened, and she barely got her sword moving in time to deflect the next attack. He followed his opening thrust up with a cut at her shoulder, which she barely managed to sidestep, then a sweeping sideways cut at chest height, which she ducked. She tried a cut at his lower legs that he leaped over, and she found herself staring at the tip of his blade, hovering six inches from her face. He waited for her to stand up, then moved back out of range, adopting another sword stance. Konoka swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and shifted into a stance of her own, designed to counter the one her father held.

"Very good," Eishun said, then darted forward, deftly knocking Konoka's sword aside with his own before bringing it around in a vicious arc. Konoka's instincts took over and she darted in low under the sword, and scrambled around behind him. He was too quick, however, and booted her in the butt, sending her flailing at Sayuri, who caught her instinctively. Setsuna gasped.

Konoka clung on to the older woman for a moment, pretending to be catching her breath as she rested her head against the taller woman's ample chest and tried to figure out what to do.

"Ojou-sama, you're not beaten yet, are you?" Sayuri asked softly. Konoka looked up at her thoughtfully, something in her suddenly sly expression making the woman wary. Konoka's devious grin widened, and Sayuri, perhaps realizing what was about to happen, tried to push her away. Konoka brought her sword straight up between Sayuri and herself, Sayuri let out a sudden embarrassed shriek, and then Konoka whirled around behind Sayuri, pulling apart the woman's freshly cut-open uniform top and shoved her at Eishun.

The effect was just as she had expected.

Eishun's eyes bugged out as he caught the half-naked woman, blood spurted out of his nose as he stammered an apology, and he turned to get his suit jacket back from his driver while Sayuri blushed furiously, pressed against him for the sake of modesty. He took the jacket and turned around, only to find the very tip of Konoka's sword imbedded a sixteenth of an inch into his forehead.

"Gah...!"

"I win~" Konoka said, smiling brightly as she withdrew her sword, swiped the dot of blood off the end, and sheathed it, leaving everyone staring at the scene in stunned silence. '_I knew it! He's still too weak against women,_' Konoka thought, grinning at the way he was trying not to squirm with Sayuri pressed up against him like that. The best part of it was that he and Sayuri were so distantly related as to barely even be considered related at all. He had seemed awfully lonely in the past few years too... '_Yep, they go well together,'_ Konoka thought as she smiled at them. The two of them had finally managed to wrap Sayuri in her daddy's suit jacket, and both had become a brilliant shade of red not unlike the shade her Secchan got sometimes when she teased her. Speaking of which... "Come on, Secchan! Let's go inside!"

"Not so fast," Tsuruko said, eyeing Konoka warily as she made sure to stay far out of her range. "While I must admit that that was an impressive display of quick thinking, Setsuna-han hasn't defeated me yet; she may not yet pass."

"...ah..." Konoka closed her mouth. She didn't have anything she could say to that. She turned to Setsuna, trying to think of something to say, but Setsuna just looked so forlorn standing there that she couldn't stand it. "I'll see you in a little while Secchan...!" she wailed as she ran to the front door of the main house.

* * *

><p>Miyoshi Youko stood in the hallway, facing the strangely familiar man in front of her. '<em>Urashima Keitaro...surely he isn't related to Yuusuke...?'<em> she thought, eyeing him. To think that dork Urashima Yuusuke who was part of the group she used to run with all those years ago might be related to this cool looking—if clumsy—man was a little odd, and yet... Something about the way he moved and he shape of his face was _very_ similar. And, come to think of it, that woman standing further back in the hallway holding a baby looked an awful lot like Narusegawa Ren, Yuusuke's eternal rival. Yuusuke and Ren butted heads every time they got together, even though they were really the best of friends...a fact neither one seemed to have realized before Youko got locked up for three hundred years. She sighed. She missed those days, with her and Saburo and Konno, Yuusuke and Ren, she even missed that lucky idiot Otohime Kosuke, and that lovable psycho Maehara Jin. She grinned in fond remembrance of them all. '_I wonder what happened to them? It looks like Ren and Yuusuke had families of their own at least, but what about the others...?' _she thought to herself.

She shook her head to clear it; this was no time to be reminiscing about the past. If anything, she had a right to be angry about the present, since Yuusuke's descendant over there had oh so recently removed his whole head from the inside of her shirt. Why, if she had had any less control over her emotions, her whole face would have been bright red; only Saburo was allowed to do that...! She shook her head again to banish those thoughts, and focused again on the man standing opposite. "I don't suppose you'll let me by...?"

Keitaro smiled crookedly and Youko achieved a small understanding of the troubles his wife must have constantly had to face. As it was, that silly little smile sent her heart fluttering. '_No Youko, this isn't the time to fall in love with a married man! Focus!'_

"I'm afraid not. You see, Motoko-chan asked me to help, and I couldn't turn her down...you know how it is, don't you?"

Youko sighed. She knew how it was, all right. Foxes had a reputation for being tricksters, but she and her line had always had a deep sense of honor, even though she loved to engage in the occasional bout of mischievousness, as had her mother before her. Still, one's word was their word. "Let's get this over with, then," she said. She drew the wakizashi she had borrowed from Konoka, and Keitaro drew his sword and set the sheath aside so it wouldn't get in his way.

Youko watched him for a moment, a little surprised as she saw how easily he held his sword, as if it was just an extension of his body rather than a tool or a weapon. He didn't go into a stance or anything either, he just...waited. Youko had only seen that sort of thing a few times before...

Urashima Keitaro was a dangerous man.

Judging from what she had seen, he would have unusual reflexes, and his movements would be unpredictable for someone trained in swordplay the way she was. His apparently natural clumsiness would only make the situation worse... She briefly wondered if one could weaponize clumsiness, but the intricacies of making such a concept work made her head hurt so she stopped.

She raised her wakizashi into a stance designed for a short sword, and paused. Keitaro just stood there, grinning away at her while the baby held by the woman in the hallway behind him burbled happily.

"What's your name?" Keitaro asked suddenly. "I didn't catch it earlier," he said apologetically. "Oh, I am Urashima Keitaro, pleased to meet you," he said, bobbing his head in a polite little bow.

"Do you mean before or after you stuck your head in her shirt?" the woman behind him muttered dryly. Keitaro, probably from long experience, didn't reply.

Youko's eyes narrowed. "Miyoshi Youko. Do you know what the Aoyama girl got you into?"

Keitaro scratched the back of his head. "Hmm...well, she said I just had to help defend the armory from a bunch of intruders. I guess that's you and that girl from earlier, since Takeda-san said you were intruders. Right?"

"That's right," Youko said, stepping forward as she let some of her power spill out, making the air feel almost electric; Keitaro stood his ground. "Did she also tell you that I'm a fox youkai? We eat humans, you know," she said, moving closer and doing her best to loom over him. Looming wasn't that hard; she was several inches taller than he was in any case, and popping her ears out made her look even taller, though he didn't seem to have much of a reaction other than widening his eyes. "You look...delicious," she said, looming closer. Or at least, she loomed closer until she felt the sheer weight of killing intent trying to smother her. She looked up at the woman with the baby further up the hallway, saw the look in her eyes, and quickly backed off. "Just a joke! Geez, nobody can take a joke these days..." she muttered as she backed out of Keitaro's personal space.

"I would prefer if you didn't threaten to _eat_ my _husband _and just settled for trying to stab him instead," the woman said, turning her sarcasm on Youko.

"Fine, okay, whatever. I'm not that kind of youkai anyway! I just wanted to get this over with quickly," Youko said, aggravated. She was _not_ looking forward to facing the man. Nevertheless, he was just one more obstacle in her quest for the sword.

"Okay then, whenever you're ready," Keitaro said, watching her intently.

Youko couldn't help but blush, but she took a deep breath to calm herself. What would Yuusuke have said if she told him his descendant would be a natural when it came to making women fall in love with him...? '_He'd probably look at me like my head wasn't screwed on straight,'_ Youko thought, grinning crookedly at her memories of the clumsy man. '_Come to think of it, he had a sort of clumsy charm...genetics are scary.'_ Shaking her head to clear it, she again raised her sword. Keitaro shifted his weight slightly, and a smile snaked across Youko's face. Yes, he knew what he was doing, all right; she would have to be quick. She darted forward.

Their first clash very nearly resulted in her losing one of her _other_ ears. She came in fast and low, intending to disarm him and end the fight quickly, but he simply stepped back, bringing his sword up to knock her wakizashi aside in a fluid motion; the tip of his sword missed the top of her head by a couple of inches and would have severed one of her ears had she not jerked her head back.

"Ah! Sorry about that; I didn't think about your ears...are they okay? They're so pretty, it'd be a shame if I accidentally hurt one..." Keitaro said, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed expression on his face.

Youko's face went red, and not only from anger. Her youkai ears twitched violently as she watched him. Her earlier estimation had been correct, if in a different manner than she had initially thought...Urashima Keitaro was indeed a dangerous man, in many ways. She had only just met him, and already he was making her heart flutter in her chest. She glanced at the woman who looked like her old friend Narusegawa Ren, saw the knowing look in her eyes, and sighed. '_I shall have to offer my condolences to his wife; she must live a hard life.'_

Their second clash was a disaster. As Youko darted forward Keitaro stepped back with his left foot, his sword swung around seemingly of its own accord, and Youko brought up her wakizashi just in time to deflect it. He flowed with the motion however and his sword came back around, deceptively fast, and Youko had to shove him away to give herself enough room to move. Keitaro, pushed off balance, wildly flailed his arms in an attempt to get his balance back. One of his flailing hands, naturally, snagged the sleeve of Youko's shirt.

The two of them hit the floor face to face, accidentally headbutting each other into a daze with Youko on the bottom.

The two of them just laid there a moment. Youko came to her senses first and again became aware of the tremendous killing intent flooding the hallway. She looked up at Keitaro, stunned and lying on top of her, blinked, and shrieked, shoving him off.

"What the _hell_?!" she demanded. She tried to stand up, but her legs were weak and she fell back to support herself against the wall.

"While. I. Appreciate. The. Speed. With. Which. You. Shoved. Him. Off. I. Would. Appreciate. It. More. In. The. Future. If. You. Stayed. Away. From. My. Husband. Understand?" Narusegawa muttered through clenched teeth as she struggled to smile, a vein throbbing in her forehead.

Youko looked at the woman with the baby, wide eyed, and nodded vigorously. Narusegawa's killing intent weakened, then faded away completely as she heaved a long-suffering sigh. "The big idiot's always been that way," she said, rolling her eyes. "Here, hold her for a moment, please?" she said, holding out her baby.

Youko looked at the cooing little thing, her eyes wide. She had always liked babies, but she hadn't ever really had any time to deal with them except for the few months with her infant son before she was locked up... The baby looked up at her, smiling wide and reaching for her youkai ears as it gurgled happily. Narusegawa raised an eyebrow as she looked at her, so Youko took the baby and held it close to her chest. It smiled up at her, fumbling with a button on her shirt, and she couldn't help but smile back at it. It squealed in delight as her youkai ears twitched, and reached for them even though it was too far away to touch them.

Narusegawa moved over to Keitaro's side and knelt down beside him. "Keitaro?"

"Ow..." Keitaro muttered, reaching up to rub his forehead. "That hurt... Oh, hey, Narusegawa! Is the cute youkai girl alright?" he asked. "I think I might have accidentally kissed her when we fell..."

Youko looked up sharply as the hallway again flooded with killing intent.

"Na-na-narusegawa! Wait! W-we can talk about this, right? R-right? It was an accident! Narusegawa! Narusegawa...?"

Youko just stared as Narusegawa dragged her husband to his feet, reared back, and punched him, launching him straight through the wall. And the one after that. And the one after _that_. When the sounds of destruction finally faded down to the sound of the last shattering plate, Narusegawa dusted off her hands. "That's 'My Lovely Waifu~' to _you_, buster!" Narusegawa turned, smiling, back to Youko.

"...I'm alright..." Keitaro called out in the distance.

Youko looked from Narusegawa to the Keitaro-shaped hole in the wall and back, and handed over the baby, which began to convey the tale of its adventure with the funny fox lady to its mother with burbles, laughs, and the occasional bit of arm waving. Youko couldn't help but smile. The whole situation was just... _'Wow...'_ she thought in amusement. '_I wonder what Ren and Yuusuke would have said if they could see these two?'_ Her two old friends had _always_ gotten in fights with each other; it was even how they'd met. She missed them, but there was no way to see them again...they were dead and gone, like the rest of her friends from that time. She shook her head to clear it, and turned back to Narusegawa. "As your husband wasn't able to stop me, I will go on ahead."

The baby again squealed in delight as Youko's youkai ears moved, and its mother couldn't help but smile at the sound. "It's fine, a loss is a loss. The place you're looking for is through there," she said, pointing to a door in the wall. "Good luck," she said, grinning as if she knew something Youko didn't.

"Thanks..." Youko said curiously. She glanced back at the baby, which burbled at her, smiling its crazy little baby smile, and she couldn't help but smile back at it. She kind of wanted a baby again...but not yet. This wasn't the time, and she had no business trying to raise a child when she didn't even have a suitable mate to watch it during the times she had to be out and about to perform her duties as the Youkai King. '_Assuming, of course, that I don't let Masashi sneak up and murder me in my sleep,' _she thought dryly as she opened the door to reveal a fair sized room with a set of stairs leading down.

* * *

><p>Youko followed the stairwell down for quite a distance before she came to the bottom. Once there, she took a moment to catch her breath and look around. The stairwell came down onto a large metal platform in a natural cavern lit by electric light; large stalactites and stalagmites grew here and there, streaks of natural color in the rock decorated the walls, and the floor sloped gently down to the right, ending in a small underground lake that took up perhaps a quarter of the cavern's floor space. A sturdy walkway had been built from the platform to provide secure footing; it stretched around a hundred feet straight across the cavern to a large, vaultlike door set deeply into the opposite wall. And, in the middle of that walkway, stood a <em>very<em> familiar person.

Youko almost couldn't believe her eyes. "...Konno? Is that...is that you?" she asked, scarcely daring to believe her eyes. She couldn't detect any traces of an illusion, and there was nothing wrong with Konno's smell either; it may have been hard for Youko to believe, but her old friend really was standing there before her.

"Who else would I be?" Konno asked as she reached into her yukata and drew out a bottle of sake and a small sake cup. "Finally figured out how to make myself one of those dimensional rift things; it's great for storing sake. But anyway, it's been a while, Youko. Wanna have a drink for old times' sake?"

Youko grinned at the sight of the sake bottle. It seemed Konno was still Konno in more than just her appearance. But a 'dimensional rift' like on TV...? '_Science is a fearsome thing indeed,'_ she thought. She shook her head. "Maybe later. First, I need to get into the armory."

"Ah...! To be young again...!" Konno said as she shook her head melodramatically.

"Young? Konno, we're the same age," Youko said, cocking an eyebrow. What was Konno's game...? Youko felt doubt start to grow in the back of her mind. Something was off; she had a feeling her old friend was plotting something.

"Eh, same thing," Konno replied, then poured herself a cup of sake and drank it. "In any case, I can't let ya go in there," she said as she carefully set the bottle and cup aside on the walkway. "You always were a troublemaker, weren't ya, Youko?"

Youko frowned, ready to act. Even though they were a good fifty feet apart, that was plenty close enough for a fox youkai to spring into action in a space as big as the underground cavern. "Me? You're the one that led that youkai parade right through the middle of town, Konno. And made all those cups and plates come to life...and the thing with the cows...need I go on?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, barely able to suppress the grin that threatened to come out upon recalling those old memories. Good times.

Konno shrugged, grinning widely. "That was just playing around; it's not like anybody got hurt. Genjirou grew up real cute, by the way."

Youko tensed up at the name of her son. "Konno..." the other woman's name came out in a growl.

"Oh, don't worry! I didn't go and seduce him or anything," she said, waving her hand lazily. "I just made sure he grew up strong, is all. All the Aoyamas are strong. You should see Motoko in action; she's awesome, way better than Tsuruko. That girl's got no limits. I made sure the others were okay too, Ren and Yuusuke and Jin and all them. I watched over their kids, too! You wouldn't believe it, but they all have descendents living in the same inn over in Hinata! But anyway, Genjirou. It's a shame he took after his father, but that's one of the risks you run if you have kids with a human," she said, shrugging. "He'd've made a _hell_ of a fox youkai."

"What's going on, Konno?" Youko said after a moment. "I need to get into the armory _now_." She didn't want to fight her old friend, but if it came down to it, she would.

"Ooh, touchy," Konno replied, smirking at her. "Are you sure you're up to it? I mean, I've got seven tails now; I'm not like I used to be," she said as her tails abruptly flared out behind her. The air hummed with the power she was leaking.

Youko's smile slipped away as she stood facing her old friend. "Let me by, Konno. This is your last warning."

"Ooh, not scared at all, huh? Not even when I've got seven tails? Can't do it, can't let ya by, sorry," Konno replied. Youko drew her wakizashi, and Konno reached into her yukata and drew out a long, straight sword. "Yep, still using the old jian, you know. It's a classic," she said as she ran through half a dozen forms in a flurry of movement. "Pretty good, huh? I've been practicing over the past coupla centuries; betcha can't beat me now~"

Youko went very still inside. Konno probably _could_ beat her now. Back then, back before Youko had been locked up, Youko had been able to regularly beat all of her old crew but Maehara Jin in spar sessions. Konno always got so mad at her...she almost grinned, but held it back. If Konno was holding a grudge, the situation could get ugly, fast. Youko knew what she had just seen; Konno was probably better than any living human with a jian, and the situation was made even worse by the fact that the one she held was an ancient and powerful artifact that had belonged to her father, and could control the lightning. She held her sword out at her side. "Don't make me do this, Konno."

"Oh? Why do you want the Kusanagi so bad anyway?" Konno asked, the serious tone of the question masked by her usual lazy grin. Youko saw through that grin at once.

"Because that bastard Masashi's going to get it if I don't," Youko replied.

Konno's youkai ears, great fine silver fox ears—Youko had always been a little jealous of them-, twitched in surprise that her face didn't show. "Masashi?" she asked, her voice level.

"Masashi," Youko said, nodding. She almost spat the name. "He's already got the mirror, and he tried to steal the sword already, too; he just grabbed the wrong one. He must not have known about this place," Youko said, glancing around, "because he broke into the upstairs armory."

"Tell me," Konno said, her voice having lost any hint of her usual jovial personality, "about Masashi. I've been out of circulation for quite a while now."

Youko smiled grimly, and started to talk. She told Konno about what she had uncovered about Masashi's actions in the past, as well as what he had been involved with since then, both on Earth and Mundus Magicus, and she finished up with his actions at the Youkai Festival.

"Bastard," Konno said under her breath. She shook her head as if to clear it and spoke up. "So he's the one who got you locked up, huh? I should burn him with foxfire just for that," she said as she put her sword back into the 'dimensional rift' she had spoken about earlier. Youko sheathed her wakizashi and wondered if it was safe to relax just yet. "I tried to take the sword, you know, just to see what would happen," Konno said as she bent down to pick up her sake.

"_What_?!" Youko all but shouted. She certainly hadn't expected Konno to say _that_...!

"I was just curious," Konno replied as she poured herself another cup of sake. She drank it in a single gulp and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I couldn't touch it; there's some sort of anti-youkai enchantment on it."

"Anti-youkai..." Youko repeated. What on Earth?! Had the Shinmeiryu betrayed them...?

"I asked Eishun about it," Konno explained. "He said something about it being an extra test; you know, something to make sure that whoever gets the sword is less likely to misuse it." She grinned wide. "Masashi would never be able to get it, not unless someone gave it to 'im."

"What do you mean?"

"The Kusanagi is on a sword stand enchanted so that nothing but a human can move it," Konno said, eyes gleaming mischievously.

Youko's grin mirrored Konno's. The Youkai King's sword, enchanted so only a human could pick it up...! The idea was so devious, she wished she had thought of it herself. There was no way Masashi or anyone like him would ever think of something like that! She sort of wanted to tell him about it, just to see the look on his face when he realized the truth of the matter. "That's _great_!"

"Lucky for you I like you better than Masashi," Konno said, grinning at her. "And it looks like you came prepared, too," she said, pointing at the stairwell.

Youko turned around and spotted Keiko standing nervously at the base of the stairs. "Keiko! You're right on time! C'mere and meet my old friend, Konno. She's a silver fox youkai like me," Youko said, grinning as Keiko shyly approached and looked at the fox youkai. "Keiko, this is Konno Mitsune. Konno, this is Suzuki Keiko; I'm sorta training her." Konno gave her a surprised look, but brushed it off as she grinned at Keiko.

"Hello, Konno-san," Keiko said nervously.

"He~h, I kinda want to kidnap you and teach you the joys of alcohol," Konno said, grinning at the girl. "I don't think Youko'd appreciate that though, so let's just get this over with," she said as she reached into her yukata and drew out a large old fashioned key at least a foot long. "This unlocks the door," she explained as the trio moved along the walkway toward the vault door.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Youko asked, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at Konno.

Konno grinned back at her. "Honestly? Probably not, but like I said, I like you better than Masashi. I don't think I'd mind you being the next Youkai King...not as long you let me into the royal wine cellar, anyway."

Youko snorted in amusement. "Done. Now..." She watched as Konno inserted the key into the main lock on the door and turned it. A moment followed in which they heard the whirring of mechanisms as the massive door underwent its complex unlocking process, and then Youko and Konno pulled it open to reveal a room even larger than the cavern. The three of them stepped inside, Youko and Keiko looking around in awe at the variety of items inside. There were a great many things stored there, from family treasures to rare objects to magical artifacts; there were more valuable items in one room than perhaps anywhere else in the world.

"Warded against all forms of magic, and the key and lock have to be reset weekly," Konno said, grinning as she spun the keyring around her finger. "If it comes down to it, you can also blow charges in the stairwell and cavern outside to bring 'em down, blocking any access to the vault."

Youko whistled. "They really pulled out all the stops, didn't they?"

"And with good reason, too," Konno replied. "A lot of this stuff has had wars fought over it, or been used to fight 'em. If word got out...well, it wouldn't result in anything good, I can tell ya that much."

"The Kusanagi," Keiko said, speaking up for the first time since being introduced to Konno, "what does it look like? Masashi thought that fancy katana he had was it, but that style of sword is too young; the Kusanagi legend is far older..."

"Oh, you're a bright one, aren'tcha," Konno said, ruffling Keiko's hair. "It's not a katana; if anything, it's more like my dad's sword. Straight bladed, y'know? Really old too."

"Amaterasu had it," Youko explained. "She was one of the first leaders of the Youkai, and that's how the tradition that anyone who wants to be the Youkai King has to collect it started."

"I see..." Keiko said, looking around at the various items as they passed.

"This place is like a maze, with all these shelves in here. Let's see, I think it was over this way..." Konno said, leading them to the northern end of the room.

"Is that it?" Keiko asked, pointing at a simple looking sword in a simple looking scabbard.

Youko looked over at it and grinned. "That's it, alright. Will you get it for me?" Youko asked.

Keiko looked at her, then at the sword, and moved over to stand in front of it. Konno just watched the two of them. "This is really it? The Grasscutter?"

"Yeah. I remember it well; my mom used to carry it everywhere. She always said it made her feel proud to carry something with so much history behind it..."

"History..." Keiko muttered. She reached out and plucked the sword from the stand it had been placed on. "Can I...can I pull it out?" she asked.

Youko glanced at Konno, who shrugged, and nodded. "Go for it."

"Okay," Keiko said. She took hold of the sword's hilt, marvelling at the texture of the carved wood handle, worn black and smooth by centuries upon centuries of use. She gave it a light tug to free it from the sheath, and pulled it the rest of the way out, holding it up to see it better. She had seen old magical swords before, but nothing she had seen gave off the sheer sensation of _age_ as the sword she was holding. The blade itself seemed quite short; it was barely two feet long. Any shine it had once held had long ago worn away; the blade was a dull, rough metallic gray, as was the simple pommel and guard, though the blade was razor sharp. She had a feeling the pommel and guard had once been beautifully carved, but time and use had rendered them as smooth and featureless as the handle. Overall, the sword didn't really look like much, and yet...its sheer _age_ sat upon it like a weight, and she realized that the weapon she was holding was a weapon of kings. So many names from history and mythology had held the sword before her, all the way back to Amaterasu herself...! She suddenly felt ashamed to be treating it so lightly, and quickly sheathed it. She brought it over to Youko and held it out.

Youko hesitated, lingering doubts about her own worthiness to hold the sword swirling in her mind, but she shunted that aside and took hold of the scabbard.

"Aaaand that's it! Well, it appears I've failed to protect the sword," Konno said in an exaggerated monotone. "Oh my. I have failed. Whatever will I do?"

"Probably take a drink," Youko said, looking at the sword.

Konno snorted. "Probably," she said, grinning. "Congratulations. Now, let's get out of her before I get the urge to take a few things with me."

* * *

><p>They had just made it to the top of the stairs when a shout from the other side of the door caught their attention.<p>

"_Dammit Keitaro! Enough is enough!"_

"Narusegawa, I'm sorryyy!"

A crash shook the walls, and Konno and Youko shared a quick glance just as the door opened, revealing Konoka standing on the other side, holding up her shorts, which, Youko noted, now had a rip all the way down the side.

"What happened to you?" Youko asked, grinning. Based on what they had just heard along with the new Keitaro-shaped hole in the wall and the fact that Narusegawa stood out in the hallway, steaming, the answer to that question was pretty obvious.

Evidently, Konoka thought so too. "A clumsy friend of the family," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I met him earlier," Youko said. Konno laughed into her hand behind her. "Has anyone seen Setsuna?"

* * *

><p>"Kono-chan...why did you abandon meee?" Setsuna whined, covered in bruises and looking pitiful as she swung an oversized wooden sword in the front yard, directed by Tsuruko.<p>

"Silence! You've lost count; start over! I want five thousand sword swings! _Now!_"

"Kono-chaaan...!"

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, in a rather nice set of rooms in the teacher's dorm back in Mahora...<em>

* * *

><p>Negi springfield and Kagurazaka Asuna sat on the couch in front of the television set in t-shirts and shorts as they ate cup ramen.<p>

"...you know something?" Negi asked after a moment.

"What?" Asuna said after taking a moment to slurp up a noodle.

"I can't help but feel like I just missed something fun," Negi said, looking down at his cup ramen.

"Eh, can't win 'em all," Asuna replied as she set her empty container aside and turned her attention back to the TV.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Urashima Keitaro, Narusegawa Naru, Aoyama Tsuruko, Aoyama Motoko, and Konno Mitsune/Kitsune (also Otohime Mutsumi and Maehara Shinobu, whose ancestors were briefly mentioned) are all characters from Akamatsu's previous work, Love Hina. If you haven't read it yet, read it; it's good. Anyway, they have been modified to fit the story of course, as well as aged quite a bit since this story takes place in 2009, almost a decade after Love Hina. Genjirou is the name of Youko's son with Aoyama Saburo, who died a couple centuries before this story takes place. You can find a little more about him in Still Waters 3: Side Stories: Book 2, Chapter 7: A Conversation Between Old People, which can be found on this site. As for Takeda Daisuke and Takino Moe, the two young Shinmeiryu members who chased Keiko, they are my creations and have been seen in this story before, in Still Waters 3 Book 1, Chapter 12: Kyoto Trip Part 5._

_Dictionary Time!_

_Sarashi – This refers to a long strip of cloth wrapped many times around the torso like a bandage. A common feature of samurai and tough delinquent-types in anime. Women also wear them sometimes to bind or support the breasts. For more info, look it up on Wikipedia, though I found Tvtropes to be more informative._

_Jian – This is a Chinese one-handed doubled edged straight sword with a blade two or three feet long. This is the sort of sword you'll tend to see in those Chinese martial arts films. They're pretty cool; you can find out more on wikipedia, or look up videos of people using them on Youtube._


	32. Ch 28 Countdown

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 28: Countdown**

* * *

><p><em>Saturday, July 18th, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>"Ahahaha! Do you feel my power? Do you?! AAAHAhahahaha...!" Eva cackled gleefully as the ice vines shot out across the battlefield, chasing down anyone they could catch.<p>

"Keep it up!" Misa shouted to the others as she floated nearby, wearing the witch costume from the pactio card she had accidentally made with Eva and riding on the scythe that came with it as if it was a witch's broom.

"Chachamaru! Enemy location report, now!" Hakase shouted behind the magic shield bubble Misa had put up for her.

"Twelve subjects in a group one hundred and twenty three meters ahead hidden behind an outcropping of sandstone, seventeen degrees to the right," came Chachamaru's prompt reply before she refocused on the aerial dogfight against the flying probes that kept trying to get a lock on their location.

"Rally, remove level three locks! Permission code 993!" Hakase shouted to be heard above Eva's howling laughter and the sounds of battle.

"Level three locks removed!" Rally replied a few seconds later. "Permission to engage?"

"Permission granted!" Hakase replied. "Full artillery barrage!"

"What about Negi?!" Misa asked, horrified. "He's out there fighting...!"

"The boy can take care of himself!" Eva shouted gleefully as she dodged a massive ki blast and answered it with a wave of lightning arrows. "Besides, Chachazero's with him!"

"Is that supposed to make me feel _better_?!" Misa demanded.

"Calibration complete; a two minute cool down period will be required after firing is complete," Rally announced. Panels throughout her body opened, revealing a startlingly large number of missiles and oversized gun barrels. "Firing in three...two...one. Firing commenc-" The rest of Rally's announcement was lost in the deafening roar of launching missiles and automatic weapons fire.

A thick cloud of smoke rolled over the battlefield as the young gynoid continued to fire. The sound was deafening and muzzle blasts lit up the smoke cloud eerily as the barrage went on and on in a seemingly never ending cacophony of sound until the big guns finally began to stop firing one by one as they ran out of ammunition, until the last gun fell quiet and an eerie silence fell over the battlefield.

"Firing complete," Rally announced. Panels on her back hissed open, spewing steam. "Two minute cool down period commencing in three...two...one." Her eyes went blank and the sense of life and motion that set her and her sister Chachamaru apart from other robots vanished as she went into cool down mode.

Misa, kneeling down low to the ground to get away from the rising smoke, squinted. "I think I see something moving..." she said, peering into the smoke. "I think it's—"

Misa screamed in surprise and threw herself to the side as a figure hurtled through the smoke backwards, followed closely by another with long red hair and an enormous sword.

"C'mere, you...!" Kagurazaka Asuna cried out as she chased after Negi, each swing of her sword clearing great swathes of smoke. "I'll get you yet...!" Eva didn't give her a chance; four ice vines converged on Asuna an instant later. She destroyed the first with a wave of her sword, dodged the second and finished off the third with a blast of ki, only to have the fourth strike her dead center in the back, hurling her forward with a cry and knocking her off guard long enough for the one she had dodged to swing back around and bury her in ice. Eva's didn't have time to gloat, however, as the rest of the assault force arrived to exact its revenge for the earlier barrage.

A cyclops, ten feet tall and wielding a massive club, charged out of the smoke, swinging its club wildly as it looked for something to hit. It's eye focused on Misa just as she finished chanting her spell; a spear of shadow obliterated its head an instant later, accompanied by Haruna's muttered 'Hey! I _liked_ that one...!' from somewhere in the smoke nearby. There was no time to celebrate, however, as Kotarou burst through the smoke next, a fist aimed straight at her and a grin on his face. Misa tried to jerk away to avoid him, but the dog boy was too fast and his fist caught her full in the stomach; her pactio outfit blocked any damage, but the force of the impact sent her flying and she lost her scythe. She heard Hakase call out something, and then Chachamaru swooped down to catch her in mid air. "Thanks!"

"Don't mention it," Chachamaru said before lowering her to the ground and releasing her. She promptly raised her hand up and held it palm out, and shot a laser at Kotarou that blasted him away, back into the smoke. An enormous jet of flame lit up the smoke cloud seconds later, and Misa's eyes went wide. All around her, the others were busy with their own fights. Eva, Negi, and Chachazero were nowhere in sight and Hakase was still hidden behind her protective bubble, while Chachamaru was now busy trying to fend off both Setsuna and the Narutakis, and doing quite a good job of it, considering how badly she was outnumbered. Rally was still out of commission, her 'Cool Down Mode' rendering her immobile in order to prevent internal damage. Misa was on her own.

A gout of flame lit the smoke cloud again, and Misa's eyes widened as she felt the telltale tug on her body that told her Akira was approaching and checking to see what water resources were available for her to use.

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap," Misa said to herself as she looked around frantically for help. However, if anything, the situation had become more desperate; Kaede had joined in with Setsuna and the Narutakis in their assault on Chachamaru, who was really struggling by that point, and Asuna had somehow managed to escape her icy prison, though Misa had no idea where she had gone. '_Probably chasing Negi,'_ she thought as she looked around for somewhere to take cover. She hadn't expected to be facing Max and Akira, and, if her hunch was correct, probably Natsumi as well. "Oh crap oh crap oh crap," she repeated as she bravely ran away.

Once she had made her way to cover behind some rocks, Misa took stock of her situation. She felt bad for leaving Chachamaru to fight it out on her own against Setsuna and the ninjas, but she was strictly a long distance mage; she had no way to fight off that particular group that wouldn't be immediately fatal, and going that far would just be insane. Speaking of death... She had dropped her scythe somewhere at the beginning of the counterattack and didn't see it lying around anywhere nearby. "Dammit," she muttered. "Abeat." Her protective witch clothing vanished, leaving her defenseless in the street clothes she had worn coming into this training session in Eva's resort. "Adeat," she whispered, hoping the rocks would be enough to conceal the light show that tended to come with summoning a pactio artifact. A second or two later, she was again wearing her witch's outfit and holding her scythe.

"Are you ready now?"

"Eep!" Misa almost jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice, and turned to see her fellow shadow mage Naba Chizuru kneeling down at the edge of the rocks Misa had been using for cover. "...you want a shadow mage's duel, don't you?" she asked. The pleasant little smile Chizuru always wore widened slightly, and she dipped her head in a nod. Misa eyed the other woman nervously. Kazumi had told her Chizuru was stronger than her, but...Misa grinned back at Chizuru, fire in her eyes. A quick glance around showed her that, for the moment at least, the two of them were alone. Eva was bellowing insane laughter off in the distance, hidden by smoke and flying dust, and Chachamaru had decided to turn her four-on-one fight into a running battle, leading the ninjas and Setsuna away. The only ones around were Rally, still in her cool down mode, and Hakase, who was rapidly typing away on a computer and checking readouts on various complicated bits of machinery within her protective bubble. Misa met Chizuru's eyes, saw the woman's need to test herself in them, and her grin widened into a smile. Without a word passing between them, the two of them moved out into the open, facing each other across a fair distance. "I won't go easy on you," Misa called out.

"I'll do the same for you," Chizuru replied politely.

Both of them began chanting at the same time; Chizuru finished her chant an instant before Misa.

"Thirty Seven Arrows of Shadow!"

"Thirty Seven Shadow Arrows...!"

'_Shit!_' Misa thought as she frantically began a spell to counter Chizuru's attack but, again, Chizuru finished hers first.

"Fifty Three Arrows of Deflection!"

"Fifty Three Homing Shadows!"

Their counter spells took care of the first volley of magic arrows in a rare display of synchronicity, leaving Misa feeling unsure of her next move. Her hesitation cost her, however, as Chizuru promptly cast another spell.

"Seventeen Shadow Spears!"

Misa scrambled to chant a counterspell more powerful than her Homing Shadows, but had to abandon it halfway through in order to get out of the way of Chizuru's attack.

"Seventeen Shadow Spears!"

"Crap crap crap crap!" Misa screamed as she struggled to get out of the way again, narrowly avoiding the attack. She started chanting her next spell as she ran, hating the fact that she had let Chizuru get the better of her so quickly. It was one thing to be told someone else was better than you were; it was another altogether to see the evidence of such a thing yourself. Chizuru's spellcasting was faster than hers, more exact; Misa was one of the most powerful human mages in the whole of Japan at the very least, but she had allowed her skills to dull in the presence of overwhelming firepower. And yet, as she was rapidly discovering that, all else being equal, no amount of power could cover a general sense of laziness. In a straight-up mage's duel, she was powerful enough to overwhelm Yue despite the other woman's immense skill in magic; Nodoka and Kazumi and Makie and Ako all fared the same as Yue when it came down to structured duels and the like. Even Konoka, with her tremendous magic capacity, would fall easily...though Misa had to admit that that was mostly because Konoka's magic wasn't suited to attack spells so much as healing spells. She was regularly stomped by Negi and Eva and Akira and Max, and even Natsumi put up a valiant fight from time to time, but they weren't normal people; Eva was some magical uber-vampire, Akira, Natsumi, and Max were elementals, and Negi was, well...Negi. The others were all fighters or some variation on magic knight, so they didn't count. She would have sighed had she not been frantically trying to concentrate enough to properly cast a spell while running for her life. Another of Chizuru's spells hit behind her, throwing her through the air to land behind a pile of rocks. She cursed loudly as her spell fell apart, then cursed again and frantically began casting a counterspell.

"Twenty Three Arrows of Shadow!"

Thirty Seven Homing Shadows!"

Misa chanted her counter spell as quickly as she could, but Chizuru's magic arrows were too close by the time she finished, and several got through the barrage to strike directly at her. The first struck her in the shoulder, knocking her back and half spinning her with the force of its impact but leaving her otherwise uninjured. The second struck her in the side just above her hip, and the third and forth struck her in the back immediately after. Knocked off balance but otherwise protected by the defensive properties of her witch outfit, she fell to her knees, struggling to catch her breath after the three solid blows to her midsection. She clutched her scythe with both hands, using it to drag herself upright just in time to see Chizuru finishing up another spell. "Oh shi—"

"Bombardment of Shadows! Shadowfall!"

Misa's eyes widened in shock as dozens upon dozens of shadowy black spheres sprayed out from Chizuru's position, headed straight for _her_. Thinking fast, Misa launched her favorite counter spell and gripped her scythe tightly.

"Seventy One Homing Shadows!"

Her own shadows flew straight at the incoming spheres, disrupting those they hit, but there were too many of them moving far too fast for her defensive spell to catch them all. She gripped the handle of her scythe and brought it up, watching the incoming spheres, waiting for the right time to strike. The first arrived, and she swung her scythe.

The scythe cut through the sphere, disrupting it completely. Misa stepped out of the way of the next one, thankful that Chizuru's Shadowfall spell was more of an area attack type spell than a directed or homing attack type, and cut the third as she had cut the first. She dodged a few more, cut another one, and then realized which spell Chizuru was chanting. '_Oh crap oh crap gotta end this quick...!'_ she thought to herself as she cut the last few spheres headed her way and planted her feet, preparing for the attack to come. Chizuru, standing across from her, finished chanting her spell.

"Bow of the Moon!"

Misa's eyes narrowed as Chizuru held her left hand out before her as if holding a bow; the woman next reached forward with her right hand as if nocking an arrow. As she drew her hand back, a dark, shimmery shape coalesced into being; a shadowy bow twice as tall as Chizuru surged into existence, a shadowy arrow as long as she was tall was pulled back.

"Do you surrender?" Chizuru asked politely.

Misa couldn't help but grin. _'Well now, this is more like it; matching attack for attack is way better than getting overwhelmed by quick casting. And besides, I've still got an ace up my sleeve...'_ She stood up straight, brandishing her pactio weapon. "Never! This is the Reaper's scythe! The things it cannot cut are close to none!"

She thought she caught a hint of a smile on Chizuru's face. "Very well," Chizuru said. She loosed the arrow.

Unlike a real arrow, it flew straight and fast with no hint of an arc, covering the distance between them in less than a second, a six foot bolt of shadow powerful enough to penetrate all but the strongest of magical armors, a spell only those among the upper tiers of shadow elemental magic could even hope to cast, one so feared among mage culture that it was generally considered _the_ most dangerous projectile attack spell a shadow mage could cast.

Misa swung her scythe.

The bolt hit the edge of the blade, pushed against it, and started to push it back. Misa let out a cry as she forced her body to fight against the forces pushing back, calling upon the power of the moon, waning as it was, to help.

And, miraculously, help it did.

The edge of the Reaper's Scythe started to dig into the bolt, splitting the end and disrupting the magic that held it together.

"GrrrRAAAAGH...!" Misa let out a yell as she poured everything she had into her swing and tore through Chizuru's spell, which came apart in a fantastic explosion. She had a scant few seconds to see the shocked expression on Chizuru's face before the downsides of her pactio artifact made themselves known.

The Reaper's Scythe, as pactio artifacts go, was quite an impressive one; its blade, honed sharp enough to split anything larger than a molecule, could cut anything its user desired, from physical objects to spells to curses and blessings...it was truly an incredible weapon. However, it was _not_ an earthly weapon...it had been made for Death himself, a scythe created for the Reaper himself to battle with, should he have the need. As such, the strain on even a strong man using it was intense; the strain on a young woman not yet in her prime...

Misa dropped the scythe and fell to her knees, clutching her midsection as she leaned forward. '_Dammit...I'm still not strong enough...!'_ she thought, infuriated at the weakness of her body. Magic power only went so far; ki was better for strengthening the body, but that wasn't an option for her. She coughed once, twice, and fell over on her side, clutching at the burning agony in her midsection, clenching her teeth to keep from crying out. She coughed again, bringing up a few drops of blood, and growled as she pushed herself back upright. She felt hands steady her, and did her best to nod her thanks to Chizuru as the other woman knelt down beside her.

"Are you alright?" Chizuru asked softly.

Misa nodded, not trusting herself to speak yet. And, the truth of the matter was, she _was_ alright; the vampiric regeneration provided by her pactio with Eva was already starting to kick in...though she was sure to get a lecture from Eva when she was healthy again. "I'm okay," she said, her voice low and ragged. She coughed again, spitting up a little more blood, but she could feel the curious burning, itching sensation of the regeneration starting to take effect.

"That looks like a useful tool, but you have to be careful; I don't want to lose you too," Chizuru said quietly as she helped Misa stand up.

"I know how dangerous it can be, believe me," Misa said. She wiped a few stray drops of blood from her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned crookedly at Chizuru. "Sounds like the battle's over," she said, looking over at the thick smoke cloud where she had last seen Eva. "Wanna see who won?"

Chizuru smiled at her and nodded.

* * *

><p>"And <em>that<em>," currently trapped in Mahora Great Vampire Lord Jonus Hart said as he stood in front of a series of screens showing different views of a rocky, desertlike area filled with smoke and fallen bodies, "is why it's a good idea for the rest of us to stay as far away from Mahora as inhumanly possible."

Beatrice Honeydew, the youngest member of the Great Vampire Lords, also trapped in Mahora, nodded wordlessly, her eyes wide as she surveyed the destruction wrought by Evangeline A.K. McDowell and her hand-picked team during a mere training session, outnumbered twenty to seven with her opponents all wielding great magics and powerful weapons and artifacts, while Evangeline herself was unarmed and unarmored, wearing only the simple little dress she had worn coming into the resort. The dress was ragged and torn, but the rest of her looked just fine as she stood high atop a pile of moaning bodies, cackling evilly.

"...wow..."

"Terrifying, isn't it?" Jonus said. "The boy there at the top of the pile, Negi Springfield, defeated me with the aid of several of his young charges...none of them as well trained as any of these. And you will notice that on Evangeline's side, Hakase Satomi never emerged from her barrier and the robot Rally Wheeler was inoperable for a large portion of the battle, making the disparity in numbers even more overwhelming. Even with those three," he said, pointing out Max Linell, Okochi Akira, and Murakami Natsumi, all of whom were lying around in various states of consciousness, "couldn't do much about it. Of course, their presence was also most likely the reason she went all out from the beginning, but she did defeat three powerful elementals, as well as the rest." He paused a moment. "None of these, one on one, would be an easy fight under any circumstances; Evangeline truly is a monster."

"...wasn't he on her side? The Springfield boy, I mean," Beatrice asked as she eyed the screen.

"Every training session he participates in with Evangeline eventually turns into a battle between them, no matter which side he is on," Jonus said.

Beatrice looked from one screen to another, surveying the damage as Eva climbed down from her mountain of semi-conscious bodies and other people came out and started healing those who needed it. "That..." she said, looking at Eva as the diminutive vampire stood there, hands on her hips and a toothy grin on her face as she surveyed the destruction she had wrought, "is _so cool_!"

Jonus looked down at her as if she was crazy. "_What_?!"

"That's so _cool_!" Beatrice squealed in excitement. "I mean, the way she froze that fire guy, and wiped out that ninja girl's clones, and hit that dog boy sneaking up behind her without even looking at him! Oh! And those ice vine things too! They were all, like, _woosh_ and _whoom_ and then they hit that red haired girl and buried her and it was pretty cool that she was able to break out of it after that but still, those ice vine things were just _amazing_!"

Jonus bit back a sigh and reached up to squeeze the bridge of his nose. "Listen Beatrice, you were sent here for your protection, and I won't watch you—"

"I wonder if she'll train me if I ask?" Beatrice said, radiating joy at the thought. She was _clearly_ not paying him any attention.

"...I doubt it," Jonus replied dryly. "She's not exactly known for..." he trailed off as his eyes strayed back to the screens. He had been about to say 'She's not exactly known for taking on students', but, judging by what he had seen since his arrival in Mahora, it appeared that she had changed her ways. After all, the actions of both sides in the battle he had just watched indicated that Evangeline had indeed begun to take on trainees; everything about it, from the fact that she didn't kill anybody to the presence of teammates on her side, indicated that she had, at the very least, become quite social. Jonus had done his best to avoid becoming involved in anything to do with the other vampire or any of Mahora's defenders after his unfortunate attack and subsequent defeat, but he was beginning to think that such a standoffish policy might have been a mistake; he hadn't known about this wondrous 'resort' of Evangeline's until he, along with all the others involved in defending the city, had been invited in revolving groups into the resort to go over strategy and defense plans in case there was an incident during Negi Springfield's trip to Mundus Magicus, during which he would take a large number of powerful and highly skilled people with him. Jonus had privately questioned the wisdom of such a thing, but neglected to speak his mind about the issue; now he saw that he had, indeed, been mistaken. While a good three dozen or more of the more powerful defenders would be gone for the summer, several hundred worthy people would remain, and others would come to Mahora over the coming weeks to fill out the ranks; the city was the biggest stronghold of magic in the country and, in truth, most of eastern Asia...none of the regional magic associations would be willing to risk such a powerful ally in such a strategic location.

Such amazing resources, and Jonus had blindly held himself separate. There would be so much to discover, so many skills to learn...Jonus had been many things during his long, long life: knight, traitor, toppler of kings and a king himself, and yet what he truly was when one went past the facade he wore to face the world, was a scholar. And, with the realization of what he had been missing in mind, he turned back to the young vampire he had taken under his wing.

Beatrice looked up at him, her eyes bright and excited. "Hey, you know Evangeline, right? You guys used to know each other a long time ago, right?"

"Well," Jonus said, a little taken aback at the girl's enthusiasm, "I wouldn't say we were ever on very good terms, but...yes, we crossed paths a time or two. Why?"

Beatrice grabbed his hands in excitement. "Great!" she said, beaming at him. "Introduce me! Please please please please _please please _PLEASE!"

Jonus, overwhelmed by the girl's enthusiasm, reluctantly nodded. _'She'll see what she's getting herself into once she meets Evangeline face to face,'_ he thought to himself. _'Surely she won't be foolish enough to continue with this...will she?'_ "...okay. But you _must _behave yourself. Evangeline is not like you or I or any of the other lords. She is extremely independent; I must admit I am in shock over how easily she allowed such a crowd into this place, which, from what I understand, is her private retreat from the world. You must do your best to avoid offending her."

"Okay! You can introduce me, right?"

Jonus sighed and rubbed his forehead.

* * *

><p>Jonus walked with all the upbeat joy of a man being led to the gallows...not that Beatrice was in any condition to notice anything beyond her own excitement at what might happen when she finally met Evangeline. She kept babbling about vampires and magic and how Evangeline was 'awesome' and various other bits of inanity. Jonus soldiered on as one of the slave robots led them on toward their goal.<p>

Even with such a sour mood, Jonus couldn't help but marvel at the magical wonder that was Evangeline's resort. Several dozen unique pocket dimensions, each stable and wholly contained within its own glass sphere... A stable pocket dimension wasn't unheard of, but finished with such a high degree of quality, and so many? Simply amazing. The magical drain to keep it stable alone must be tremendous...! He had no doubt she had somehow tied its magic requirements to the World Tree, quite the source of magic itself. There would be no other way to support such a thing other than a tremendous magic siphoning circle array, not that he could think of, and he had thus far seen no sign of any such thing.

"Please wait here; the mistress will arrive shortly," the maid robot said after leading them to the main gateway area.

Jonus nodded and thanked the maid robot, who bowed and turned away. He settled in to wait and let his mind wander while Beatrice bounced excitedly in place next to him, overjoyed at the prospect of meeting Evangeline. He couldn't help but smile; she had been so intent on rescuing him or, failing that, avenging him, when she first arrived...now, it was as if she'd forgotten she was just as much a prisoner in the city of Mahora as he was. Well, no matter; things could have been worse.

He could have been trapped in Mahora with Twenty Third among the Great Vampire Lords, Karina Dyne.

Beatrice's opposite in every way that mattered short of magic power, she was extremely abrasive where Beatrice was sweet and childlike, needlessly cruel where Beatrice was kind. She also blew through her victims a dozen at a time, keeping them in chains in her mansion until they died from abuse or lack of blood. That was no way to live as a vampire, Jonus knew. Karina was walking a fine line, and it was only a matter of time until some great hero or vampire hunter tracked her down and put her out of her misery. Kasuga Misora could have done it, he thought; she had already defeated Chaser Felix and Dexter Marlowe...

There were quite a few other people waiting in this area as well, Jonus noted as he looked around. Several were members of the staff at the middle school, while he had seen most of the others during the regular meetings the magical defense teams held, though he couldn't recall many names. There were some new faces this time, however...across the walkway from him stood a large male robot with spiky blond hair and sunglasses next to a man in a leather jacket with a pompadour haircut, for instance. A little further down, a woman with long blonde hair seemed to be practicing some sort of disappearing trick with shadow magic; something about it reminded him of a certain acquaintance's style...he briefly wondered what Kagetaro was up to these days, but dismissed the thought. Across the way, four youkai—two cat and two black fox, if he wasn't mistaken—argued about something or other. He had seen them in the company of the Konoe heir from time to time. He sighed and settled back against the railing to wait.

* * *

><p>"There she is!" Beatrice said excitedly some time later as she grabbed his arm.<p>

Jolted out of his pleasant daydreams of days gone by, Jonus was a little irritated. Looking down at Beatrice's bright, excited eyes, however, he found that he couldn't hold on to his annoyance. Who could, in the face of such joy? He stood up from the railing and straightened his waistcoat as he watched the group exiting the teleporter. Sure enough, there she was, grinning in satisfaction at an amusing spar session, no doubt.

"Introduce me, introduce me!" Beatrice whispered to him frantically.

Jonus sighed. "This is your last chance to back out," he whispered back as he looked at Beatrice. Judging by the confused look on her face, she had no idea what he was talking about. He sighed again and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Very well," he said as he moved out into the walkway, Beatrice following along behind. '_What have I gotten myself into...?' _he wondered briefly before catching Evangeline's eye. "Evangeline...!" he called out. The other vampire paused, looking at him more intently, before changing course and heading his way, several others following.

"What is it?" she asked, standing before him in her childish form, her expression alone enough to tell him 'this had better be good!'

Jonus moved to the side, motioning for Beatrice to move forward. "May I present Beatrice Honeydew, Twenty Fourth among the Great Vampire Lords. She wishes to train under you."

Evangeline's eyes went from Jonus to Beatrice, looked her up and down as she bounced excitedly, and lingered on her hat for a moment before returning to Jonus with one eyebrow raised. "And? If she wants me to train her, she's got to impress me," Evangeline said matter-of-factly.

"And how is that done?" Jonus asked.

"What's her specialty?" Eva asked.

Jonus looked at Beatrice, who seemed too awestruck to answer for herself, and bit back another sigh. "...magic combat," he reluctantly stated.

A slow smile spread across Evangeline's face; it was a smile a tiger might make as it stumbled upon a helpless young deer. Jonus couldn't help but start to feel a little nervous upon seeing that smile.

"Okay then; she'll spar with me."

* * *

><p>'<em>How did I become involved in such a thing...?'<em> Jonus thought to himself as he stood as far away from Beatrice as he possibly could. His whole life had taken such a bizarre turn...listening to the request of his old friend Zeph Castor, leader and First among the Great Vampire Lords, had been his first mistake; allowing his thirst for blood to overcome his good sense first with the blood of that girl Lucy Cade and then later with the even more delicious blood of her sister Possum had been his second...and now here he was, trapped as a guardian of Mahora, his very soul held hostage by that sickly girl who could see ghosts, Sakai Reiko. He, who had once been a king...!

He heaved a sigh. _'Oh, how the mighty have fallen...'_

He took a good long look around the sandy desert-like area, and couldn't help but notice all the others watching as well; there were dozens of them...people he recognized from the defense meetings and others from around town, and a few he had never seen before. '_Well, I suppose it isn't every day where one gets to see Evangeline A.K. McDowell herself face off against perhaps the most magically gifted member of the Great Vampire Lords in a generation,'_ Jonus thought to himself. Still...

"Okay!" the redhead he knew as Kagurazaka Asuna called out. "Here are the rules! This is a one on one spar! No trying to kill each other, okay Eva?" she said, looking at the shorter vampire. Eva simply shrugged her shoulders, looking bored. "No wide area spells are allowed!" Asuna continued. "First one to give up or be seriously injured loses! Do you both understand?"

Jonus got the impression Asuna was announcing all this for Beatrice's sake; as haphazard as the place seemed to be run, he got the impression they took their training very seriously, and expected everyone else to follow their rules. He didn't have a problem with it; he just hoped Evangeline would remember them and refrain from ripping Beatrice apart..

"Okay, go!" Asuna said, and promptly ran away as if the devil itself were chasing her.

Eva watched Asuna go, a smirk on her face, before she turned her attention back to Beatrice. Jonus whispered a silent prayer of thanks to any deity who might have been listening that Beatrice hadn't decided to attack while Eva's attention was focused elsewhere.

It might have annoyed her.

"So," Eva said dismissively, putting her hands on her hips as she looked Beatrice up and down. "Which one were you again?"

Jonus, not a particularly religious sort, found himself praying again, this time that Beatrice wouldn't say something to make Eva angry.

"A-ah!" Beatrice said nervously. "I-I'm Beatrice Honeydew! I'm number Twenty Four of the Great Vampire Lords—"

"No, that's not what I'm asking," Eva said, annoyance starting to come through in her tone. "Who's your sire?"

"Oh..." Beatrice said. Jonus could tell she was still hesitant to talk about her sire and what had happened to him; the girl was still too soft; he just hoped her hesitation wouldn't aggravate Evangeline.

Eva rolled her eyes. "Spit it out," she snapped.

"A-Atton Bright!" Beatrice said. "He was my...my sire..."

"...oh," Eva said. Jonus watched her closely, but Evangeline's face had become an expressionless mask. "Atton. I actually _liked_ Atton, except for all that ideological nonsense about helping mankind reach their true potential and the rest." She smiled evilly at Beatrice. "This is a dog-eat-dog world, little girl; the strong eat the weak! The big crush the small! Everyone must fend for themselves! No one will help you, little girl!"

Jonus listened to Eva rant for a moment. _'She says such things, and yet she's helping those humans she claims to despise...how amusing; I wonder if I should point that out to her some time?' _He paused for a moment. '_I wonder if I would survive it?'_

"SHUT UP!" Beatrice bellowed after Eva's lecture on the nature of reality had gone on for several minutes and she had had enough. "Don't talk bad about Atton! He was a nice man!"

"Oh? A 'nice man', huh? Is that why he's dead?"

Beatrice clammed up and tilted her head forward; the brim of her hat covering most of her face. "He's dead because he wouldn't go along with someone else's schemes," she muttered. She then reached up and took the thick deck of cards bearing small magic circles from their place in the ribbon tied around the base of her witch's hat.

Jonus looked from Beatrice's shaky hands to Evangeline, and sighed. _'You really have changed, Evangeline...making her angry so she will go all out rather than holding back; that is only safe as long as you are the stronger one.'_ Beatrice wasn't stronger than Evangeline, but he had no doubt that somewhere, someday, Evangeline would meet someone capable of doing to her what she commonly did to everyone else; there was _always_ a bigger fish, and the sooner one realized it, the better they could be prepared when the time came to face it.

He figured she'd figure something out and come out of the hypothetical incident smelling like a rose. She was _irritating_ like that.

"Come on, little girl. Impress me," Eva said dismissively.

Beatrice didn't reply. Instead, she removed six of the cards from her deck and tossed them up in the air around her, where they stuck. She concentrated for a moment, pouring power into the cards until they started to glow. She turned side on to Eva and held out her arm dramatically. "Spark Times Six!" she called out.

If Jonus hadn't seen Beatrice's 'Spark' spell before, he might have been surprised; certainly his sensitive ears picked up confused and excited mutters from some of the others watching. There was no long incantation, no real buildup to the spell short of charging the cards with power; the magic circles drawn on them took care of that. The thick beam of crackling yellow light that shot out of each card seemed more powerful than he remembered from the last time he had seen it, but that wasn't surprising; he'd last seen her use her Spark spell several years before, after all; Beatrice was always looking for ways to become a better mage.

The beams were directed at Eva, but she held her ground, a sneer barely hiding the interest he saw hidden in her features. Her shields took the full force of the beams and blocked them.

Beatrice, unlike many others in her position, didn't believe in doing things halfway. Whether it was being a mage or being what she thought a vampire should be, she tended to go all out; she was already throwing more cards into the air. The first six beams were finally dying out when she started the next wave. "Spark Times Six! Gatling Spark Times Four!"

Jonus couldn't help but grin at Beatrice's innovative use of her Spark spell. 'Gatling Spark'? '_Interesting...'_ he thought. It was based on the Spark spell, but instead of operating like a laser beam, it was more like a machine gun, each card emitting shorts bursts of power, resulting in a multitude of beams roughly six feet long streaking through the air; the beams weren't very powerful individually, but when there were a hundred of them flying at once... There would be no dodging such an attack, not with four of them going at once as Beatrice was doing now. Still, however, the beams couldn't make it past Eva's shield.

When the light show and explosions finally faded away to reveal Eva standing there behind her magical shield, Jonus let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding. Eva seemed interested, but if Beatrice's spells had actually broken through...that would have just made her mad.

"Is that it?" Eva called out. "Just a handful of card-assisted beam spells? They aren't even directed! Surely you don't think this level of—"

"Spark Cannon!" Beatrice called out.

Jonus' eyes went wide; he hadn't heard anything about this spell...!

The dozen cards floating in front of Beatrice in the shape of a circle glowed with a brilliant yellow light before a beam, bigger and more powerful than any single beam he had ever seen cast by a mage, exploded outward with tremendous speed, shattered Eva's shield spell, slammed into her, and slammed her all the way back against the wall of this section of her resort...and the beam continued to fire. _For a minute and a half._

When it was finally over and the beam died away, Beatrice collapsed, drained. Jonus looked at the blackened body of Evangeline, plastered against the far wall of the desert environment, and ran to Beatrice's side. "Come along Beatrice, it's time to leave," he said as he pulled her up into a seated position. She had a silly grin on her face and her eyes were unfocused. "W-we must make haste..."

"Spark Cannon, I actually pulled it off this time! Hehehe..."

"Not now, Beatrice," Jonus said a little frantically as he tried to pull her to her feet; she collapsed again from magic exhaustion as soon as he tried to get her to support her own weight. He growled something about little girls being foolish enough to drain all their magic in a single attack and again tried to drag her to her feet.

"It's _strong_, hahaha..."

"Beatrice?" he said, deciding to try a different method. "You just used Spark Cannon on one of the strongest vampires in existence, do you understand? It would be wise to flee before she can recov—"

"_**GREARRGH...!**_"

"Seven Layer Shield!"

Jonus just barely got his favorite shield spell up in time to block Evangeline's wild punch. Even so, her attack easily destroyed the first five layers and almost broke through the sixth. Jonus quickly renewed the shield...a good thing too, as Eva promptly tried to punch his head off. He was ready for her now, however, and his Seven Layer Shield was one of the best pure shielding spells in existence.

"N-Now now, Evangeline, this was only a test, remember?" he said, standing between Evangeline and Beatrice. Evangeline gave him a death glare that made him want to run screaming to hide in the deepest hole he could find, just to get away from her. He gamely held his ground. "She broke through your shield, correct? Surely such a feat makes her worthy of training under you rather than being killed here, correct? And what about your other students? They're out there watching you." The last one seemed to give Eva pause, and the rage left her eyes, replaced by a calculating look as she turned her attention back to Beatrice, who was by that point babbling something about falling stars and something called bullet hell and making the occasional giggle.

Eva looked at him long and hard, then turned her attention back to Beatrice, and the tension seemed to go out of her shoulders. "Okay then," she said, then looked back at Jonus. "I'll admit it: she has potential. That...what was it, 'Spark Cannon'? It's strong. Pick her up and get her some rest. Training for her starts tomorrow at five o'clock," Eva said, strolling away toward the exit. "Don't be late; there isn't much time left until the boy goes to Mundus Magicus," she said over her shoulder.

* * *

><p>As artificial night fell on the first day of training and strategy meetings in the resort, Asuna headed off to bed in the room she had reserved in the dormitory building Eva had added to the resort several years before, when it became clear that people would be staying in the resort for extended periods of time...not to mention the fact that Eva herself got sick and tired of people getting in the way lying around in sleeping bags in her own personal castle.<p>

Asuna unlocked the door and stepped inside, and couldn't help but grin at the room she was presented with. It was highly reminiscent of the dorm room she had once shared with Konoka and Negi, though it had a single bed rather than the bunk beds she and Konoka had once used, and a computer sat upon the desk in front of the window. Asuna shut the door behind her and locked it, then dropped her pack on the floor before wandering over to the bed and flopping down on it with her sword.

"Aahh~"

It was a _hugely_ comfortable bed. She rolled over on her back, looking up at the ceiling, and let out a sigh of relief as the tension slowly bled from her body. She was exhausted; she had been training her body nonstop in the resort for two weeks...roughly fourteen hours out in the real world. She, like many of her old friends and classmates, had long ago lost track of her true age...one didn't often count the occasional two or three day visit to Eva's resort when planning a birthday celebration, but they definitely added up over time; she didn't think she was _that_ much older than her official age would suggest, but she had to admit that the idea was troublesome. Her traitorous mind flirted with the idea of staying in the resort long enough to age up until she was even with Takahata-sensei, but it was only an idle thought; her old crush was pretty blatantly dating Minamoto Shizuna...Asuna wasn't even on his radar anymore, if she ever had been. She flopped an arm over her face and let out a sigh.

"Ugh...I stink," she said aloud as she caught a whiff of herself.

She heaved herself upright and walked over to the dresser opposite the bed, and began rooting around in the drawers, looking for some underwear. She removed the articles in question and grabbed an oversized t-shirt as well, something she had taken from Negi and often used in place of a real set of pajamas, and headed into the bathroom attached to the room.

She emerged twenty minutes later, smelling of soap and shampoo and wearing Negi's oversized t-shirt, and again collapsed into the bed, burying her face in her pillow.

"Much better..." she mumbled to herself. She lay there a moment, her long red hair flung around her haphazardly, and rolled over onto her size, facing the middle of the room. "Lights off!" she stated; the magitech device controlling the room's lights detected her command, matched it with its known list of commands in its memory, and promptly shut the lights off, leaving the room in near-total darkness.

Asuna laid there on her side for a long moment in the silence of her room, limbs sprawled out, before pulling the blanket up over herself. She drew her legs up against her chest under the blanket, then pulled the edge of it up further, leaving only the top of her head uncovered.

* * *

><p>Like before, the dream seemed to start as soon as she closed her eyes. Again, like before, she found herself standing on a storm-battered shore, watching as the waves dug deeper into what remained of the small strip of land remaining between the sea and the enormous stone wall behind her. Already the beach, as she had seen it upon first having the dream, was gone, washed away by the storm; there had once been several acres of land between the sea and the wall, with the ruins of some temple located in the middle of the field, making for quite the picturesque scene. Now the temple ruins were gone, collapsed into the sea as the land was washed away by the waves. There was scarcely an acre of ground left...soon there would be no place to stand. She didn't know what would happen if there was no land left the next time she had the dream, but...she peered down into the water.<p>

She didn't know, and she wasn't very keen to find out.

"What do you think, Mal?" she asked.

The only other occupant of Asuna's dream realm, the devil Malvrin, glanced up at her. He was a tall man who could have been considered ruggedly handsome if not for the long, sharply pointed horns sprouting up out of the top of his head. "_I _think you should take a look at that wall, myself," he said from where he sat cross-legged nearby, gesturing up at the huge wall behind her. "The ocean might not be an issue much longer."

Asuna, cocked an eyebrow at him and turned to face the wall. What she saw left her staring.

Huge cracks had appeared all over the wall, radiating out from one main split that ran vertically up the wall, presumably all the way to the top, so far up she couldn't make out any details. "What in the..when did this happen?" she asked. She hadn't seen anything like it before; she had just assumed the wall was an unchanging aspect of her mental world representing some aspect of her personality, such as her devotion to her friends...dream worlds were all about symbolism, after all. Or so psychiatrists said. She had to admit, the sight of those cracks running through the wall was strangely disturbing; it left her feeling somehow vulnerable, or weak. She wrapped her arms around herself as she looked at the wall.

"They've been there a while, you just never noticed," the devil said, watching her idly. "They weren't that big a week ago, though. Somethings happening to you...tell me, have you wondered what was behind that wall?"

Asuna looked up at the immense structure, uncertain of her thoughts. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't ever thought much about the wall itself past her first time in her dream world...which, now that she _did _think about it, was really strange. What _was_ the wall? She had assumed it represented something, but did it really...? What if it really _was_ just what it seemed? What if it really was a wall, meant to keep something out? Was it meant to protect _her_, or was _she_ the one it was trying to stop? She frowned as she eyed the base of the crack, where several small chunks of rock had come loose and fallen out of the wall.

"Be careful," Malvrin warned.

Asuna ignored the devil's advice and poked at a piece of cracked stone about the size of her fist, lying wedged in the crack. To her surprise, it came loose in her hand; she pulled it out and looked at it closely. It was just a rock...gray, a little heavy for its size, possessing a fairly sharp edge where it had recently broken off, but not sharp enough to cut skin, not by a long shot. She tossed it behind her, where it rolled down the gently sloped hillside and finally plopped down into the ocean.

She reached into the crack and pulled out another.

* * *

><p>"Okay everyone, look over here!" Kamo said as everyone filtered into the large cafeteria the next morning. "It's that time again!" he called out, waving his arms while two of Chachamaru's sisters rolled a large screen into place behind him.<p>

Misa blearily rubbed her eyes. "Can't this wait until after breakfast...?" she muttered.

"No can do," Kamo said, shaking his head. "You need to know where you stand in relation to the rest! You can eat as you watch. Chachazero!" he called out.

"Right here!" the evil doll said as she hopped up onto the podium another of Chachamaru's sisters had provided. Kamo climbed up onto another one while the last of the latecomers filtered into the building and looked around, curious as to what was happening.

"Okay!" Kamo said happily as he pressed a button behind him and the screen flashed to life, a frantic-sounding song blaring over the speakers while some weird music video with people standing on desks showed on the screen.

"This! Is! Your Twelve-month Power Levels Report!" Kamo and Chachazero shouted into their microphones, Chachazero waving her hands excitedly while two of Chachamaru's sisters knelt down, one to each side of the screen, waving lit sparklers in intricate patterns.

Eva groaned from where she leaned on a wall nearby. "Not this useless nonsense _again_...!"

"Ehhh? Aren't you curious as to where you stand?" Kamo asked, leering at her. Eva crossed her arms and looked away with a 'hmph', a light blush on her cheeks.

"I already know where _I _am on that list," she said irritably.

"Well then, how about those students of yours, hmm? How about your 'best student'~"

"This is pointless; your power levels are meaningless in any real-world situation. A complete waste of time..." Eva replied, looking away. She didn't leave, however.

"Get on with it!" someone yelled in the back.

Kamo heaved a sigh and took out a collapsible pointer, which he smacked sharply against the podium. "Okay! For those of you who are new to this," he said, looking at several of the students who had only recently been introduced to the secret training sessions in Eva's resort, "this is how these rankings work..."

* * *

><p>Kakizaki Misa barely listened while Kamo explained his power rating system in a comedy-duo format with Chachazero providing crazy or sarcastic comments with excellent timing; instead, she focused on sitting at her table and sipping away at her cup of that nectar of the gods known as coffee.<p>

"-let me congratulate Kazumi on raising her power level an additional twenty points since the last-" Kamo said, droning on.

"Ugh..." Misa moaned as she rested her forehead on the table.

"That's what you get for drinking the night away," Madoka said as she sat down opposite Misa. Her food tray bumped the table and Misa winced, jerking her head up a few inches.

"Oww..." she moaned as she gently lowered her throbbing head back to the tabletop.

"Some of the new kids' numbers are pretty impressive," Madoka said as she began to eat.

"How's Kagami-chan?" Misa asked, still face-down on the table. '_Ugh...I'm never drinking again. Never ever.'_

Madoka grinned wide, though Misa couldn't see it. "You're not going to believe it."

Misa tried to focus on something other than the way it felt like her brain was bouncing around in her head as she looked up at Madoka. "What's her ranking?" she asked. While Mochizuki Kagami spent a lot of time training as a group with her classmates Urashima Taro and Nakamura Sachiko under the others, Kagami had been and always would be Misa's primary magic student. Misa herself had helped Kagami develop most of the unique spells she used, and Misa was usually the first one Kagami came to whenever she ran into a magical problem she couldn't solve on her own. She couldn't help but feel nervous as she watched Madoka grinning wide at her.

Madoka held up two fingers.

"...two?" Misa asked. "Are you messing with me?"

"Well, I guess I could throw a few zeroes in behind it to make you feel better," Madoka said as she turned back to her breakfast.

"A few zeroes?" Misa asked, her eyes widening as her heartbeat picked up and she felt a sensation that she supposed could best be described as 'teacherly pride'. "Kagami-chan's power level is _two __thousand_?! That's awesome!"

"That's what comes of practice," Madoka said, then looked sharply up at her. Misa wilted under her disapproving stare.

"Yeah yeah...I'll practice more..." Misa said, laying her poor aching head back on the table. "I can't let Kagami pass me..."

"Yeah, she's catching up fast," Madoka said cheerfully. Misa shot her a glare, but Madoka only laughed and Misa collapsed back down to the tabletop. "Chizuru's right on your tail too. Plus she's got a lot more skill and can also use some ki. She taught herself kanka."

"Ugh..." Misa moaned.

"Hmm...come to think of it, Setsuna's pretty far up too, isn't she?" Madoka continued on, as if musing to herself out loud. "She's up above three when she goes all out with all that Shinmeiryu stuff, and Konoka's _always_ been way up there...I guess that's awesome genetics for you. And practice," Madoka added. Misa groaned again. "Yuuna's kid, that Possum girl, she's really jumped up too since she turned into a vampire. She still can't control herself well enough to get a good reading, but Kamo told me the other day she spiked to seventeen fifty. It was only for a second or two, but she's gonna be great some day."

Misa groaned yet again. "Man, everybody's catching up~!" she whined.

"Practice," Madoka said. She said it like a judge announcing a criminal's sentence. "You don't even wanna _know_ what that Beatrice girl's power level is."

Misa groaned. Ever since Eva had decided to train Beatrice Honeydew, she had been Misa's biggest rival. "I guess you'd better tell me."

"Thirty seven hundred."

Misa just stared at her.

Madoka nodded and took a sip of her coffee.

"At least I'm still stronger than Asuna," Misa finally said; the whining tone had not quite left her voice.

"On paper, anyway," Madoka allowed. It was obvious to both girls present that Asuna, with her training and skills, would wipe the floor with Misa and Madoka both in a straight up serious fight, despite the rather extreme difference in power levels. Asuna had only _just_ broken eight fifty recently. Madoka's twelve hundred or so, all from ki rather than magic, would certainly help, but it would only delay the inevitable.

"...I guess Kamo's power levels are useless after all," Misa said, grinning at the prospect of less work.

"Nah, they're a good tool, but I wish he'd go further and take other things into account," Madoka said as she finished up her coffee.

Misa sat up and took a sip of her own coffee. She made a face; her coffee had gone cold. She set it down and looked over at Madoka. "Like what?"

Madoka paused for a moment, looking at the piece of toast that was all that remained of her breakfast. "I dunno. Something like 'combat efficiency' or...or something." She glanced back across the room to where Kamo and Chachazero were finally winding down to a close. As she had expected, the new kids were all crowded around the screen, looking at their power level rankings. She couldn't help but grin...she had been the same way. Still was, actually, only she had enough self control to not crowd around with the rest. Watching your power levels going up through time and training was _fun_.

"Or something, right," Misa said. "Or some kind of videogame class system! I'd _totally_ be a black mage, right? And you'd probably be a monk, ha!"

"Yeah..." Madoka said, rolling her eyes as she turned back to face Misa. "I guess that means I've gotta stick around you then; you've probably only got ten h.p.," she said, the corner of her mouth creeping upwards in a smirk.

Misa stuck her tongue out at her and took a bite of her toast, and Madoka's smirk froze. She looked down at her plate, empty of all but crumbs, then back up at Misa, who popped the last of the toast into her mouth and smirked back at her. Madoka heaved a long-suffering sigh. "It's amazing what I'll put up with..." she muttered.

"Well of course, I'm the black-mage-slash-love-interest, aren't I?" Misa asked.

Madoka just gave her a blank look. "Black-mage-slash-love-interest? Those exist?"

"Yeah! Of course they do!" Misa shot back.

"Name one."

Misa looked back at her blankly as she tried to think of an example of that rare creature. "Like...uh...Lulu!"

"She wasn't the love interest; she just ends up with the idiot who attacks with a soccer ball," Madoka said dryly.

"No way!" Misa said. "I distinctly remember seeing Tidus get all huggy with her in that one scene if you were nice to her!"

Madoka frowned as she tried to recall which particular scene Misa was talking about. "...really? I don't remember anything like that."

"Th-then Arche!"

"She's more of a witch, and Cress liked Mint more anyway."

"V-Vivi!"

Madoka just looked at her sadly.

"_Cortana!_"

Madoka sighed and stood up, taking her empty tray with her. "Yeah...I'm gonna go now."

"But...but..." Misa said as Madoka walked away. She heaved a sigh and collapsed back on the tabletop as her headache roared back with a vengeance. "Gah..." It took her a moment to realize Madoka was still standing there. She looked back up at the other girl, noting the somewhat worried expression on her face. "What?"

Madoka hesitated. "...you're going to go back and pick up the Birdsong girl, aren't you?"

Misa stiffened up. Nobody trusted Maple Birdsong at all...they were all too paranoid, in her opinion. Maple just needed time and kindness, that was all. Sure she was kinda creepy when beating a construct half to death with a shovel or chopping one up with a chainsaw, but nobody was perfect, right? '_Besides,'_ she thought to herself, '_chainsaws are pretty cool anyway.'_

Misa figured Madoka had expected her reaction, as she continued on. "Just be careful, alright? I keep thinking about what happened when they first came..."

Misa relaxed a little at that. When Maple and Trinity Birdsong had first arrived in Mahora, there had been several..._misunderstandings_. One such misunderstanding had ended up with Misa stuck through with an uprooted fencepost. It had legitimately been an accident and Maple had scared half the city carrying Misa's bloody body around while trying frantically to find Konoka, the only healer in the city she even knew of, but several of the others had taken it personally, and just about everybody was nervous around the poor girl after that. Everybody but Misa. Perhaps it was because Maple had accidentally impaled her during an argument (and you didn't get much closer than being impaled by someone, Misa reasoned), but Misa felt close to the girl, close enough to try and be her friend despite their rather inauspicious start. It had taken time, but she felt like Maple was finally starting to accept the fact that she, too, could have friends. To be honest, it made Misa feel all warm and fuzzy inside that Madoka was worrying about her. Once she got past the annoyance, anyway. She sighed.

"Look, it'll be alright. I'm just going to check up on her and try to get her to come here for the city defense meeting. Like it or not, she's really effective, right? We can't just leave her out..."

Madoka looked torn, but hesitantly nodded. "You're right...I'm sorry. I'm just worried, you know...? She never even told anybody what made her sister like that, or why they came here in the first place. You're always going over there...I just keep thinking what if something comes looking for them, but finds _you_ instead...?"

Misa grinned. "A hundred and seven magic arrows to the face, that's what," she said. "Or a shadow lance to the heart!" she said, grinning as she pointed her finger like a gun at Madoka's heart and winked.

Madoka blushed and quickly looked away. "...idiot..."

"Don't worry Kugimin," Misa said, grinning at the silly nickname. "I'll be fine. I'll probably be gone an hour or so, so...see ya tomorrow?" she asked. An hour in the outside world was roughly a day inside Eva's resort...that fact was a big part of why Negi's old students had gotten so strong in such a short period of time compared to the rest of the world. The fact that most of them were probably a year or two older than they technically _should_ have been was a bit of a downside, though...

"Don't call me Kugimin," Madoka said, still looking away.

Misa reached out and ruffled her hair until Madoka swatted her hand away, and grinned. "See ya!"

* * *

><p>Kara Stride, Kondo Kai, and Watanabe Miyako, three quarters of the No Name Band, all sat together at the same table looking sheepishly at each other while everyone ate breakfast around them.<p>

"I...I guess I've been keeping a secret from you," Kara said after an awkward moment. Kai made a crooked grin and Miyako blushed.

"Same here," Kai said, unable to stop her awkward grin.

"Me too," Miyako said, looking down at the tray that held her breakfast.

Silence fell over their table as the three girls looked down at their breakfast, a little embarrassed to have been caught holding back on such things as being a super-acrobatic, quick thinking genius, being an oni, and being some sort of music-mage-swordsgirl with the ability to make people fall in love by looking at them.

"Heh."

Kara and Miyako looked up at Kai, who quickly looked away.

"I was wondering what Ayumi would think, if she new the truth," Kai said after a moment. She picked up a piece of toast and took a bite, more to give her hands something to do than because she was hungry.

Miyako made a rueful grin, one which Kara mirrored.

"Ayumi..." Kara said, looking down at her plate. Kara had been the one to kick Ayumi out of the No Name Band after the stunt she pulled with little Caro...the horrified look on Ayumi's face at the time still haunted her. She felt someone touch her hand and looked up at Miyako.

"It's alright; Ayumi is getting better," Miyako said with a certainty Kara didn't feel. Ayumi was one of Miyako's roommates...the American transfer student Rosemary Dean was the other. "I know she wants to come back to the band; she's just too stubborn."

"Yeah..." Kara said, looking back down as Miyako released her hand.

"S-so!" Kai said in a desperate attempt to break the gloom that had fallen over the table. "Kara-chan! You can make people fall in love with you, right?" she asked.

Kara nodded hesitantly. "That's why I'm wearing these glasses...Mama—my mother said they help block the effect—hey!" As she spoke, Kai reached over and yanked Kara's glasses off. "Don't look at me!" Kara wailed, covering her face with her hands.

"Come on, I've seen you lotsa times without glasses. You never even wore them before now, right?" Kai said as she inspected the pair of glasses for a moment, then put them on.

"I used to wear contacts," Kara said, squinting so she could see between her fingers. "Something happened and the effect got a lot stronger..."

Miyako looked from Kara to Kai and back, and cocked her head to the side. "What is it like?"

Kara seemed to shrink in on herself as she kept her face covered. "...it's scary. I didn't even know what I was doing after it started; I just remember-" she abruptly cut off; Miyako could see her ears turning red, though her face was hidden.

"What do you remember?" Kai asked as she looked around the room through Kara's glasses, then took them off and blinked, shaking her head. "_Wow_ you have bad vision!"

It took a moment for Kara to work up the nerve to answer. "I...I was in the bathroom in my room—I remember I was having headaches all day that day—and then..." she trailed off, lowering her hands from her face as she looked at her breakfast tray.

Miyako felt her cheeks heating up as she looked at Kara. It occurred to her a moment later that Kara's power was starting to have an effect on her, so she grabbed Kara's glasses from Kai and handed them back to their proper owner. Kara took them with a thankful smile that made Miyako's heart race, but the effect started to fade the instant she put the glasses back on.

Kai stuck her tongue out at Miyako before turning her attention back to Kara; she hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary at all. "What happened next?"

"Well..." Kara said, trailing off as her face turned a more intense shade of red. "Ayumi came in, and...well..."

"Come on Kara, spill it!" Kai said excitedly. Miyako leaned in close. _Something _had happened between Kara and Ayumi that day that had really shaken Ayumi up; whatever it was, Ayumi had been strongly affected by it as well.

"I..."

Miyako and Kai leaned in closer.

"I-I felt all warm, and my heart was racing, and when I saw her I thought...I...Ikissedher," Kara said quickly, and slouched down further into her seat, hiding her face again.

Miyako just stared at Kara a minute, wide eyed, before looking over at Kai, who wore a similar expression, though her mouth was open. Kai shut her mouth and looked over at Miyako.

"So _that_'s it!"

"So that's why..."

"Um, so...uh...d-did you like it?" Kai asked. Miyako gave her a horrified look for asking such a question, but, to be honest, she was a little curious as well.

"I-I dunno," Kara mumbled.

"Wow...that much, huh?" Kai said in a teasing tone.

Kara slouched down further, barely above table level by that point. "...I want to die..."

Miyako gave Kai a scathing look while trying to think of something to say to help Kara feel a little better. But for Kara to kiss Ayumi...! _That _was certainly unexpected! "W-well! I'm sure it was due to your ability, right?"

Kara looked up at her hopefully. "Really?"

Kai nodded. "Yeah, Miyako's probably right. Since you don't even seem to know why you did it, it's probably because of that. I asked Takahata-sensei about what happened, and he said it's the sort of thing that's almost impossible to control; you really couldn't help yourself, I guess."

Kara still looked troubled, so Miyako decided to change the subject to one that was guaranteed to take Kara's mind off of what had happened that day in the dorm when her powers went out of control. "Who's better? Negi-sensei or Kotarou-san?"

Kara clammed up right away and turned a vivid shade of red.

"That's right!" Kai said suddenly as she picked up on Miyako's intent. "Which one do you like best, hmm~m?"

"..." Kara muttered something too quietly for Miyako and Kai to hear.

"Wha~t? I couldn't hear you," Kai said, grinning.

Kara shrunk down in her seat again and looked down at her lap as she poked her fingers together. "...Negi..." She covered her face again in embarrassment.

"Ah I see, I see..." Kai said, nodding sagely. "You go for the super-hot pretty boy type, right? And that scar on his cheek really makes a great contrast. How 'bout you? Who do you like?" Kai said, grinning at Miyako, who shrunk down a little herself. "Come on, spill it!"

Miyako looked down at her breakfast tray shyly. "...Negi-sensei."

"And another one! Poor Kotarou-san," Kai said, waving her arms theatrically. "Though to be fair, I've gotta say I prefer Negi-sensei too," she said before either girl could ask.

With the moment thus lightened, their conversation soon turned in other directions such as the ridiculous amount of summer homework they had been assigned, and Kai breathed a sigh of relief. Negi-sensei was good and all, but he was just too _pretty_, in Kai's opinion. So was Kotarou-san, when it came to that...oni girls tended to look for someone big and strong and tough rather than prettyboy types, and their was only one big, strong, tough guy around who didn't look like a...well...a _sissy_. Kai felt bad for thinking of Negi-sensei and Kotarou-san in such a way, but... She hadn't started to look at the man she was thinking of that way until recently, but...she spotted Scary Max-sensei sitting at a table in the corner by himself as he ate his breakfast, and couldn't help but blush.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday, July 19th, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>The sun was high in the sky on a bright summer day with only the occasional small puff of cloud high above, the air miraculously free of the stifling humidity often found in the region in summer. Birds were singing in the trees and the high heat that normally oppressed the city's inhabitants in late July was softened by a brisk breeze that blew ignored through Misa's hair as she stood on the steps leading up to the front porch of the small house, dread clutching at her heart as she looked at the front door, moving softly on its hinges in the breeze. She could see the empty hole where the doorknob had been before something broke it out of the door. She took a hesitant step up onto the narrow porch and leaned in close to the door, listening for any sign of life from inside the house.<p>

She heard nothing but the creak of the door shifting in the breeze.

"...Maple? Are you there?" she asked, then waited a moment. "It's me, Kakizaki Misa..."

A faintly unpleasant odor drifted through the crack in the door, and Misa wrinkled her nose. It smelled like rotten food... She moved forward and gently pushed the door open, holding it in place with her hand. The heat that rushed out to greet her made her grimace. "...Maple? Trinity? Is anyone there?"

When no response came after a few seconds, she stepped inside and immediately spotted the shattered remains of the doorknob lying on the floor, broken into several pieces. The whole interior of the house was hidden in shadow; she searched the wall for a light switch, and flipped the lights on a moment later. She moved through the small entry room and paused again, looking at the mess that had been made of the little house. A mostly empty can of beans lying on the floor was the source of the smell she had detected earlier, and the cupboards stood open, their former contents, sparse as they were, scattered over the floor. She moved further into the unnaturally silent little house and approached the bathroom.

A peek through the doorway was all it took to see the sorry state the room was in; it looked like someone had torn it apart. The bedroom was no better; the bedroom door lay on the floor inside, while various items were strewn about and left lying broken on the floor; Trinity's bed was bereft of blankets and the little radio Maple had been so excited to find a few months back lay in pieces by the wall; she could see the mark on the wall where it had been thrown. Misa turned around, marched back out of the dead little house into the sunlight, and pulled out her cell phone. Her hands were shaking so badly it took her a moment to dial the number, but Takahata picked up after two rings.

_-Takahata here.-_

Misa couldn't seem to get her vocal cords working properly; she opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

-_Hello? If this is an emergency, please respond.-_

"T-Takahata-sensei?" she finally managed.

–_...Kakizaki-san? What happened?-_

She paused again, trying to figure out what to say, but all she could come up with was "I'm at Maple's house. Something happened; they're both gone."

There was a long pause on Takahata's end.

_-Stay where you are; a team will be there soon.-_

"O-okay." Misa shut her cell phone as she looked back up at the little house. What had happened...? Someone had broken in, obviously, but...there was no blood. If there was nothing else good about the situation, there was at least _that_. She shivered.

Who had been crazy enough to break into Maple Birdsong's house, and what had happened to the Birdsong sisters...?

* * *

><p><em>Monday, July 20th, 2009, Evening, Eva's Resort<em>

* * *

><p>With the imminent departure of the group that would accompany Negi to Mundus Magicus both in response to the challenge issued by Fate six years previous and for the mission to rescue Ako, who had been kidnapped during the festival in late June, one final planning session had been called in Eva's resort to finalize the details of the mission as well as see to the defense of Mahora until Negi's party's planned return at the end of summer break, and to discuss what to do should they fail to appear at the scheduled time.<p>

Only those who held positions of authority—official or not—and those in possession of important information had been invited to the well warded inner meeting room hidden within the bowels of the castle Eva had built in her resort, and they sat, now, around a table, looking at computer screens installed by Chisame and Kazumi.

"Let us deal with the more immediate concerns first," Takahata, current head of Special Defenses for the city of Mahora, said as he brought up a list of people officially registered as members of Mahora's defense force. He pressed a button, and a large number of names were highlighted in red, including many of Mahora's most powerful citizens. "These are the people scheduled to follow you to Mundus Magicus," he said, looking at Negi. "This will raise havoc with our teams. We will need to rebuild two thirds of our defense teams and appoint new leaders for roughly seventy percent of them; this can't wait any longer."

"We have a similar situation within the Special Operations division," Kuzunoha Touka, member of the Shinmeiryu and head of Special Operations for the city added. She didn't have anything so fancy as Takahata's little powerpoint presentation to show the others present, but there was no question that the sudden loss of such a large chunk of their fighting force was a dangerous thing.

"It should also be noted that, with the absence of both Asakura Kazumi and Sakai Reiko, the city will be left without the services of a powerful medium," Sir Leonard Reilly, an old friend of the headmaster from Europe, said, his cold, measuring gaze sweeping the table. After the incident with the Ghost Eater, it had been decided to create a new division to deal with ghosts, spirits, and other things of that nature; as someone who had often dealt with similar issues in his youth, he had immediately been called out of retirement and put in charge. He had promptly set about running emergency drills and enforcing discipline upon the people assigned to him. It had been observed that Reiko didn't seem to like him much, but she didn't really like _anyone_, so her grumbling and complaints about 'that slavedriver' were ignored. Kazumi seemed to find the situation amusing...except when she was caught trying to skip out on training.

Those not directly involved in running the defense of Mahora waited patiently while the issues were ironed out and the available personnel were spread more evenly among the various divisions as need dictated until finally the final team had been rebuilt and the last resources had been doled out.

"So," Eva said, clearly bored out of her mind by the administrative discussions that had just ended, "let's move on to something a little more interesting, shall we?" Takahata smiled slightly, while Touko and several others simply looked offended.

"And that would be...?" Sir Leonard Reilly asked, raising an eyebrow as he made an expression that would have made anyone under his authority cringe. Eva just glanced at him.

"Storming the castle, rescuing the princess, and defeating Negi's eternal rival, of course," Eva said, meeting his disapproving gaze with ease. They locked eyes for a long, long moment before Sir Leonard's lips curled upward in a smile.

"Ha! I see someone here still has some spirit left in them," he said as he stood up. "Come along, Touko; I believe we have done our part here. Are you coming, Takahata?" he asked while Touko spluttered indignantly.

Takahata let out a small laugh and stood up from the table, gathering his notes. "Yes; let's leave this to them. Come with us, Touko," he said, looking back at the woman. She let out a sigh and stood up.

"Fine. Let's just get out of here," she said testily as she stalked to the door.

When they and the others whose only concern was the defense of Mahora had left, the remaining group seated around the table turned to the next order of business.

"So," Chisame said, speaking for the first time since the meeting began, "you have some information, don't you?" she asked, looking over at Sakurako, who grinned and nodded.

"Yep!" she said, moving up to stand beside the table, where she laid down the thick folder she had been carrying. Negi and Asuna crowded close around her as she opened it and began passing out bundles of paper to the others seated around the table; a moment later she unfolded a large map and laid it flat on the table.

"Mundus Magicus?" Negi asked as he peered at the map, which showed one enormous oddly shaped landmass taking up the middle and top of the map, and another that looked roughly like Antarctica at the bottom of the map, both continents drawn simplistically. It looked like something out of a child's geography book.

"M-hm," Sakurako replied as she took out the collapsible magic wand Negi had given her years ago and began to use it as a pointer. "These cities are where the gateports are," she said, pointing to several spots on the map, "and this is where I _think_ the headquarters of the Children of Gilgamesh is," she said, pointing to a spot on a peninsula northeast of Ostia. "Ako-chin will be held there."

Everyone started talking at once, but Negi bent down and looked closely at the map while questions were thrown too fast for Sakurako to answer.

"Quiet," Eva said loudly. It took a moment, but silence again fell over the room.

"If I remember correctly, this peninsula...I can't recall its name, but it's quite mountainous, isn't it?" Negi asked, frowning.

Sakurako nodded. "I've narrowed it down to an area about a hundred miles across—"

"You'll need to search by airship, then," Chisame suddenly said.

Negi smiled up at her. "Yes, I believe that would be the best way." He looked back down at the map.

"It won't be easy finding them that way, either," Asuna said thoughtfully as she looked over the map. "A hundred miles is a _huge_ area, and even if we get close they'll probably have their own methods of defense, not to mention wild dragons and stuff like that." Everyone looked at her for a moment, surprised. "What?" she asked defensively.

"I think we're all just a bit surprised at _you_ of all people offering something useful," Kazumi said, grinning at her. Asuna just rolled her eyes in response.

"The easiest way to find their location would be to speak to the locals; a large group that goes around kidnapping people should be easy enough to find unless the locals are cooperating with them. Barring that, we could look for well traveled roads; it would take a lot of supplies to keep any sizable group fed and clothed high in the mountains, not to mention other things, such as entertainment, work-related supplies, and any number of other things...they probably make quite the economic impact on the surrounding villages. Assuming they've thought to hide their methods of getting supplies, an aerial search really _is _our only option." Yue frowned thoughtfully as she looked at the map, then began thumbing through the bundle of paper Sakurako had given her. It contained smaller maps of the region as well as information on the climate, wildlife, locals, and other subjects that might be good to know if one was planning to spend some time there.

"That'd be rough," Asuna said. "Expensive, too."

Yue nodded. "We would need as many airships as we could get," she said, looking at the map from the other side. She had to climb halfway up on the table to get a good look. "Ideally, several dozen would be best, covering ground in an organized manner...it shouldn't take too long to spot them, unless they're located in some sort of cave system—"

"The Children of Gilgamesh are based out of a big fortress," Sakurako said with a surety that was surprising to the others. "I don't know where it is, but it's built to be impenetrable."

"Impenetrable? That just means we have to set Eva loose on it instead of Misa," Asuna said. Some of the others giggled at the comment, and even Eva smirked a little. "Do you know how many people there are? What kind of fighting force they have?"

Sakurako shook her head. "Hundreds, maybe even a few thousand. It's a big castle."

Yue looked at her for a moment, then turned her attention back to the map.

"How do we know they brought her to this castle of theirs?" Yue asked after a moment, effectively silencing the room.

Sakurako grinned crookedly. "They did."

"How do you know?"

"I have a reliable source."

Yue and Sakurako looked at each other for a moment.

"How reliable?" Yue said, looking Sakurako in the eye. "This is a good friend we're talking about."

Sakurako made a gentle smile and closed her eyes. "_Very _reliable. There's nothing to worry about; they definitely took her there." She met Yue's gaze with a smile, and Yue looked away, back at the map.

"We'll probably have to do an infiltration instead of a regular attack," Asuna said.

Negi nodded. "We don't have to forces to face a thousand people behind castle walls; it will have to be a surprise attack. I just wish we knew more about the castle, so we could plan ahead..." He looked hopefully at Sakurako.

Sakurako held up her hands and shook her head helplessly. "Sorry. It's a big castle designed to hold off an army, that's all I know."

Negi frowned, concentrating on the map. "I will need to visit the library today; I want to see some better maps of this area, and to see if there are any hints as to the fortress's exact location..."

"I'll join you," Nodoka said, speaking up for the first time; she had been rapidly scribbling notes throughout the meeting.

"Me too," Kazumi said. "And how about you, Chisame?" she said, grinning over at her old friend.

Chisame glanced over at her. "...sure."

"Great! Maybe this won't take so long after all. Sayo can even use that mannequin they keep in there and help us too."

"Ugh," Asuna said, shivering as people started filing out of the room. "That giant doll thing is _creepy_..."

After a quick glance at Sakurako, who was folding up her map, Yue followed the others outside, but stopped and leaned against the wall just outside the door while the others kept going. Eva gave her an odd look on her way out, but just shook her head and continued on, leaving Sakurako alone inside the room. Yue only had to wait a moment longer before her target exited the room.

"Heya Yuecchi," Sakurako said, grinning at her. "Did you need something?"

Yue decided to get straight to the point. "How did you know about that castle?"

Sakurako looked surprised, but shrugged. "I did some research."

Yue looked her in the eye. "There is no information on the headquarters of the Children of Gilgamesh, not even in Library Island. I know. I _checked_."

Sakurako's smile slipped a little. "There are other ways to find things out, Yuecchi," she said, waving an admonishing finger.

"Such as?" Yue asked, giving her a level look.

Sakurako looked back at her, and they held each others' gaze for a long moment before Sakurako sighed and the smile left her face completely. "You know this?" she said, wiggling her fingers in the air; Yue blinked as Sakurako's pactio card appeared in her hand.

Yue nodded, wondering where Sakurako had hidden it; the woman couldn't have stuck it up her sleeve, they barely went down to her elbows.

"You remember its effect, right?"

Yue nodded again, frowning. Sakurako's pactio card featured a picture of Sakurako in a cheerleader's uniform; the effect was basically the equivalent of a temporary stat boost in a video game, only it worked for everyone around her.

"Well, I have a friend with a certain ability, and I boosted her with this! That's all," she said, making the card disappear. She smiled brightly and started walking, but Yue snagged her by the wrist before she could escape.

"Sakurako..." Yue said, her mind racing. Sakurako was _definitely_ hiding something...! "You and I both know your artifact doesn't work that way. I helped you test it, remember?" She again met Sakurako's gaze, and the woman looked away after a few seconds.

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Yuecchi, than are dreamt of in your philosophy..." Sakurako said, smiling as she turned back to Yue, clearly trying to turn the whole thing into a joke.

Yue wasn't having any of it. "I fail to see what a line from Hamlet has to do with you answering my question. What did you do, Sakurako? No one even knew about that castle until you brought it up; there is no mention of that cult's headquarters in any of the books about them I was able to find. Even my artifact doesn't have any information about it. _Nobody _knows except the people in that cult. You didn't...you didn't make a deal with a demon, did you?"

The fake smile Sakurako had plastered on faded, only to be replaced by a real smile.

Yue looked at Sakurako nervously. "W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're so close to figuring it out, aren't you?" Sakurako asked, reaching out and drawing Yue, protesting, into a hug. "Don't worry," she said softly into the top of Yue's head as the shorter woman reluctantly returned the hug; Sakurako was really quite huggable, after all. "I didn't do anything bad; there weren't any demons. I just can't tell you until you figure it out, okay?"

"That doesn't make sense," Yue muttered from the region of Sakurako's collarbone. "Why can't you tell me?"

"I can't tell you why; it would spoil the surprise. It may not make sense right now, but it will once you figure it out, right?" Sakurako replied. "You're so amazing, Yuecchi; you almost have it. I can't wait!" She held Yue out at arm's length, beaming at her. "Keep it up! You're almost there, Yuecchi! Now~" she said, a mischievous look on her face.

Yue tried to back away, but Sakurako held her shoulders firmly. "W-what?" she demanded, wondering what new trick Sakurako was about to play on her.

"Hu hu hu~" Sakurako laughed, then quickly leaned forward, brushed Yue's hair out of the way, and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. "Hehehehe, that's for luck~" she said as she darted away from the protesting girl and skipped down the hall. She paused and turned around to look back at Yue's glaring face. "Keep it up Yuecchi! Let me know when you figure it out, 'kay? See ya~"

Yue glared at Sakurako as she skipped off down the hall, and wiped her forehead where Sakurako had k-k-_kissed _her. "Ugh..." she muttered as she looked at her hand. She really didn't get Sakurako sometimes; she was even worse than Misa...! '_At least she wasn't wearing lipstick,'_ Yue thought to herself as she rubbed her forehead. Having the other girl kiss her, even if it was just a teasing peck on the forehead, had been embarrassing enough; if she had left a lip-print behind...Yue shuddered. She wanted some boiling water and a whole _mountain _of soap.

"Ugh."

* * *

><p>The few remaining days before the scheduled departure of Negi's group passed swiftly, with everyone who was going doing their best to tie up loose ends and say goodbye to their loved ones. Some focused on training in Eva's resort, while others indulged in the food and activities they wouldn't find in Mundus Magicus, and still others procrastinated until, suddenly, there was no more time left.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Saturday, July 25th, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>"I wish I could go with you..."<p>

Misa grinned over at her one and only mage trainee, Mochizuki Kagami. The girl had chosen to wear the blue shirt and short black skirt Misa had picked out for her on one of their shopping trips, along with a pair of those long black socks she had that went most of the way up her legs; this pair stopped just short of the bottom of her skirt. Misa's grin widened as she reached out and tousled Kagami's hair; Kagami had worn those socks like that every chance she got since the time Misa had complimented her on the look. '_Man this is great; having someone looking up to you makes a girl feel all warm and fuzzy inside...'_ "Honestly, I kinda wish you could too, Kagami-chan. But it's just too dangerous over there...what would I do if you got hurt?"

Kagami's face fell, and Misa's heart felt like it was about to burst. '_Moe! So moe! Gah...!' _

"But..." Kagami trailed off, and Misa knew what she was about to say.

"I know you've been training extra long in the resort," Misa said as she walked along on the sidewalk a step ahead of Kagami in her own shirt-and-skirt combo. They were about the same height, but Misa was most definitely a woman while Kagami was just still on her way. "But the answer is still no...I'm sorry, Kagami-chan."

Kagami followed along in silence for a moment, and when Misa glanced back at her to make sure she was okay, she saw Kagami staring at her shadow. Kagami looked up at her, and Misa made a bright smile at her. Kagami blushed and looked back down at the sidewalk.

"...but I'm strong," Kagami said a moment later, disconsolate.

"I know you are," Misa said, trying to sound reassuring. "You're all strong," she said, referring to Kagami's training group, which consisted of Urashima Taro, Nakamura Sachiko, and sometimes Possum Cade, when she wasn't training with Yuuna. Misa knew Kagami had taken the news that she couldn't go to Mundus Magicus badly, even moreso than the others; Misa hadn't been able to bring herself to actually say the words, but Kagami had understood anyway and had been moping around and looking pitiful ever since. Misa just wanted to just hug her forever and die, but if she did that Madoka would get jealous, so she had settled for arranging a lunch date with Kagami to cheer her up. And, lo and behold, Kagami had shown up at their meeting place in the cutest outfit she had ever seen her in...Misa had almost squealed in glee at seeing her in it, but had somehow managed to hold it back.

"I don't understand..."

Misa fought down a powerful urge to grab Kagami and take her home with her, and instead led her into a nearby cafe, where they could talk in relative peace and quiet. Misa thought the atmosphere was quite nice, almost like a date, and the food was excellent even if the silence of the girl seated across from her made it a little quieter than what Misa was used to. Still, it was incredibly fun; Misa even got a chance to fulfill one of her life's goals when Kagami got a little icing from a piece of cake stuck on the side of her face. When Misa spotted it, she reached over, wiped it off with her finger, and stuck it in her mouth. Misa barely managed to suppress a delighted squeal when Kagami looked down at her plate shyly, blushing in response to Misa's actions.

'-_moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe SO MOE I COULD DIE~kyaa-'_

Soon they left the cafe and made their way to a little-known park nearby filled with those pretty blue flowers she knew Kagami liked, and settled down on one of the stone benches that had sat there for years. A long moment passed in silence while they sat there side by side, until Misa felt Kagami take her hand in hers and looked over at her.

Kagami turned over Misa's hand and started tracing the lines on her palm.

"Oh what's this? A palm reading?" Misa asked, interested. She had never put much stock in such things, but it seemed fun...

"...this line says you're selfish in love," Kagami said quietly as she traced a line across Misa's palm. Kagami's finger traveling across her hand left Misa's skin tingling. Misa grinned crookedly. She knew she was selfish in love...Madoka was all hers and she would never let anybody else have her! "You should be willing to let the other person live their own life," Kagami said quietly.

"What about the life line?" Misa asked, wanting to change the subject. Volumes could be written on what she didn't know about palm reading, but she did know there was something called a 'life line', that was supposed to tell how long you lived. Or something. '_I really should've paid more attention when Makie was into palm reading back in our first year of high school...' _Misa thought to herself as Kagami shook her head.

"Not yet," Kagami said. She traced another line, and Misa shivered; she couldn't help it. "This one says you love life. You have a short attention span and are inconsistent. You need to focus more," Kagami said as she moved to trace another line. "This one says you're full of energy, but..." Kagam trailed off, looking troubled.

"What is it?" Misa asked, troubled by Kagami's expression. She felt the warmth of Kagami's hands on hers, and again had the urge to hug the girl, but fought it off.

"There will be a sudden change in your lifestyle," Kagami said, looking up at her. Their eyes met, and Misa was struck by just how innocent Kagami was. She knew Kagami's past, knew she had been what amounted to a yakuza princess before being sent to Mahora for her own protection, and yet...she shivered and looked back down at her hand.

"Was that the life line?" Misa asked.

Kagami nodded. "One more to go..." She looked down at Misa's palm and paused, her expression growing more troubled than before. "This one..."

"Yeah?" Misa asked, smiling at the girl to cheer her up. "What does that one say?"

"Th-this one..." Kagami said, again pausing. "The 'fate line'...i-it says your life..."

"Yeah?"

Kagami looked up at her, clearly troubled. "It says you aren't in control of your fate...please be careful over there, okay?"

Misa saw the worry in the girl's eyes and felt a strong need to reassure her. Kagami was just too cute...Misa didn't want to make her worry about _anything_. "Okay, I promise I'll be careful. There's nothing to worry about; Madoka's gonna be with me the whole time, right? Besides, it's just a palm reading...they've been known to be wrong before, you know?"

Kagami reluctantly let go of Misa's hand and looked down at her lap. "I hope you're right. It's just...I'm worried about everyone... What will we do if you don't come back...?" she said as her fists clenched on her knees.

Misa looked at her for a moment, surprised, and finally grinned as she reached over and pulled Kagami into a hug, which the younger girl quickly reciprocated. "It'll be okay," she said into Kagami's hair as the girl clung to her. '_Huh...she uses the same shampoo I do,'_ she thought, absurdly, as she felt Kagami's warmth seeping into her. She smiled at that familiar smell, and then held Kagami out at arm's length. "And hey, if something _does_ happen, then you'll just have to come and rescue me, right?" Kagami's eyes widened in sudden hope, and Misa couldn't help but laugh. "And if you do, be sure to bring that little cat of yours, okay? I bet it'd have a lot of fun in the Magic World. Now come on, I've gotta get back to Madoka and Sakurako; we're supposed to put up charms to protect my place and Madoka's house while we're over there and we only have a couple hours left before we have to go. Wanna help?"

"Really?" Kagami asked reluctantly, trying desperately to hide how much she wanted to be involved.

Misa smiled brightly at her. "Yep! Come on."

* * *

><p>Everyone met at the airport, where Ayaka's private plane waited on the tarmac. Goodbyes were given, tears were shed, and promises to follow the strict rules put in place for future training sessions and restricted usage of the resort were reaffirmed as those who were leaving filed onto the plane. The plane lifted off moments later on the first leg of its journey to Negi's hometown, and those who would remain behind in Japan drifted off to nearby restaurants and stores to drown their sorrows in milkshakes and new clothes before heading to the station to catch the next train back to Mahora.<p>

That night, the dorms were a very quiet place, something that those few students who weren't yet involved in magical matters didn't understand. Even the most dense-headed girl there could tell most of the others were upset, and soon they, too, were silenced by the overwhelming aura of disappointment and depression.

That night, three girls gathered together in one room to keep each other company in their loneliness at being abandoned, however temporarily, by those who were their trainers.

* * *

><p>"This sucks," Urashima Taro said, looking up at the ceiling of her room. Dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, she lay flat on her back on the floor, her arms flung out to the sides.<p>

"I know, right?" Possum Cade, her best friend and newly-turned vampire, said as she focused on the television screen in front of her, her fingers deftly manipulating the buttons on the videogame controller she held. She sat crosslegged on the floor in front of the TV in her own version of pajamas, a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Her character was hit by a fireball, and she groaned, dropping the controller. "Aw man, that was my last life; it took me three hours to get that far...!"

Mochizuki Kagami, lying on the bottom bunk of Taro's bed, heaved a depressed sigh. She wore an oversized T-shirt and a pair of shorts as well, albeit a set picked by her trainer, Kakizaki Misa.

Taro mirrored Kagami's sigh as she looked up at the light fixture over her head.

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad," Possum said as she scooted back to lean against the bed. She reached out and took Taro's left hand, and then Kagami's right. "They'll be back in a month, and then we can all go back to driving them crazy, right?" she asked, grinning. Her canine teeth were a little longer than average, but that was the only visible sign that she had become a vampire. The sunshine was a little too bright for her eyes and she sunburned more easily than she had before, but a pair of sunglasses and some sunblock or long sleeved shirts took care of that; the thirst for blood was harder to deal with, but Possum's own willpower and the easy availability of bloodpacks from the hidden mage clinic took care of that as well, and Yuuna's training had shown her how to work off her excess energy a feeding.

Taro tried not to smirk in response to Possum's comment, but her face betrayed her.

From up on the bed, Kagami muttered under her breath "...couple of dorks..." but smiled anyway.

"So where's Sachiko?" Possum asked.

Silence fell over the room as the previous good feeling leeched out again.

"She said she doesn't feel good," Taro said, rolling over onto her side to look at Possum.

Possum cocked an eyebrow upon seeing Taro's troubled expression. "She hasn't been looking too good lately; did something happen?"

"Kai beat her in a spar the other day," Kagami said from Taro's bed. Possum looked up at her, but Kagami hadn't moved; she was still staring up at the bottom of the top bunk.

Possum just blinked at her for a moment. "Kai? _Kondo _Kai? She beat _Nakamura Sachiko_, the _class rep_, in a spar?"

"'fraid so," Taro said, frowning as she recalled the incident. Taro had had the hardest time sparring with Sachiko...the other girl's movements were pretty much completely unpredictable; Taro had finally been able to defeat her for the first time a few weeks past, but...

"...wow," Possum said as she leaned back against the bed again. "Kai's a terrible fighter."

"I know, right?" Taro said. "I'm a little offended she beat her so easily; it took me _months_."

"Maybe she wasn't feeling well?" Possum ventured. "I mean, she hasn't been doing very well for _weeks_."

"Ever since that Misa's sister beat her in the festival tournament," Taro said as she angrily flopped back onto her back on the floor.

Silence again fell over the room while the three girls contemplated their absent friend and the way Misa's older sister Hatsune had treated her at the festival tournament. Possum wasn't as close to Sachiko as Taro and Kagami were, but she liked her nonetheless, and before Possum was kidnapped they had started to become pretty good friends.

"I hope she starts feeling better soon..."

* * *

><p>Days passed and Kagami's hopes of being sent to Mundus Magicus on a rescue mission grew fainter and fainter. A week passed, then two, and she realized with a start that summer vacation was already over half over. A few planned study sessions with the others let her finish up her summer homework early for the first time in her life, and then, again, the monotony of days without serious magic training settled in. Sure, Kagami would sometimes call up Taro and Possum and Sachiko and go out into the woods to train with them—though Sachiko would almost always decline the offer—but it just wasn't the same as a real live training session with Misa or Eva. They weren't learning anything new, and Kagami felt as if the whole lot of them were just wasting time, running around in the woods like a bunch of brat kids. The stick-sword fights Possum and Taro often had, laughing like a couple of idiots, only reinforced the idea.<p>

They weren't even allowed to go into Eva's resort without being accompanied by someone chosen from a _very_ select list of people Eva had deemed trustworthy, and even then they weren't allowed to spar or go all out in case of unexpected injury since, with both Konoka and Natsumi gone, they only had access to lower-level magic healers and civilian hospitals. It was the sort of thing most mages just had to deal with, but the young mages of Mahora felt it more keenly than most, mostly due to their unusually high power levels and the violence of the sparring and training methods they had picked up from Eva, along with the fact that, for the first time in years, if someone received a fatal injury it would actually turn out to be _fatal_.

In short: No Serious Training Allowed.

Kagami hadn't been able to cast a Twilight Breaker in _weeks_!

The long, hot summer days slowly crept by with no word from Misa or any of the others that left, and then, with three days of summer vacation left, one day before Negi's group's scheduled return, Kagami received a text message.

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, August 26th, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>Sprawled out on her bed, Kagami flipped her cell phone open and frowned. The text was from someone called 'Chiu'. She didn't know anyone who went by that name, but she selected the text in question anyway. The message was short and to the point, and the first sentence left Kagami's eyes wide. A moment later, she was down on the floor, throwing her things into a bag. Shortly after, she closed her bag, grabbed her staff—carefully wrapped in the mage cloak Misa had bought for her—from the closet, grabbed the box containing her playdoh cat from under the bed, and was out the door and on her way to a certain clearing she knew in the woods, her cell phone left behind forgotten on her bed, still open to the text that had gotten her moving in such a hurry.<p>

-_Subject: Read This Immediately-_

_-From: Chiu-_

-_They need your help. Pack everything you'll need for a few days in a small bag and go to the clearing with the stump near Eva's house.-_

_-Hurry.-_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>__: What's this? Plot? Not in MY slice of life Negima alternate timeline fanfiction with a million characters...! But yeah, stuff's about to happen. Are you excited? Am I gonna be a bastard and leave you with a cliffhanger for a month before the next chapter? 'I hope so', and 'probably' are what I'm thinking at the moment, though I'll try to make it less than a month this time. _

_In any case, I think it'd be a good idea if I made a list of who all went with Negi. Be prepared; it's a pretty big list._

_First, the old class. All of them. Except for Chao of course, and Satsuki, who stayed behind to help deal with any issues that might crop up related to those who left, as well as to help coordinate any rescue efforts if needed. Sayo stayed behind too, to help with any supernatural incidents that might occur; her decision was brought about by the realization of what would happen to all her ghost friends if another incident on the scale of the Ghost Eater Incident happened. She is one of the strongest ghosts around, maybe THE strongest ghost in all of Asia, and she is Mahora's only real means of supernatural defense now that both Reiko and Kazumi are gone._

_Second, some of the other students Negi's taught over the years. This includes Sakai Reiko (sickly though she is), Nelle (the mute girl with the poncho and the machetes), Liliana Rosario (Madoka's student, the girl __with the knives, who has a big brother she's looking for in Mundus Magicus)_

_Third, those who are friends or allies of Negi and his old class. This includes Max Linell, Jennifer Minindry, Chachazero (with Eva), Kotarou (with Natsumi), the Yagi siblings Ryoko and Kichirou and the Blight brothers Onyx and Morrison (all youkai with Konoka), the elementals Ava Grace (with Akira) Cyrr (with Max) and Linda Cale (with Natsumi), Chachamaru's sister Rally Wheeler from the new class, Anya (who refused to be left behind), Kamo, and Negi himself, of course._

_I think I've covered everyone there. I THINK. If I realize I skipped someone or added someone who stayed in Mahora, I'll update the list, but as far as I can tell it's correct as it is. Everyone else in Mahora who's not on the list stayed behind. This includes Takahata, the other magic teachers, the new class, Cocone, the vampire Jonus (who is magically bound to Mahora at the moment), the vampire Beatrice (who is not), Carrick, and all the rest. _


	33. Ch 29 It's Time

**Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 29: It's Time**

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, August 25th, 2009, Two Days Before Negi's Scheduled Return From Participating In 'Operation Rescue Ako' In Mundus Magicus<em>

* * *

><p>Urashima Taro let out a sigh as she looked up at the dark evening sky high above. The stars would have been visible had the city lights not obscured them. She idly tapped the end of her baseball bat against the toe of her shoe, a fancy looking thing she had gotten from Kagami, and sighed again.<p>

The bruised and battered young men lying on the ground all around her groaned and squirmed on the concrete.

She looked down at one lying nearby, but he flinched away upon meeting her gaze. The question Taro had been about to ask him died on her lips, and she looked away.

'_I'm not a part of this anymore...'_ she thought sadly. Once upon a time, she had been the feared street fighter, Taro-kun, who had once beaten an entire motorcycle gang all by herself in a long running battle. That fight had taken a lot out of her...it had been the most difficult thing she had ever done. _This _time, however... Taro looked toward the sound of retreating motorcycles, but only caught a glimpse of the last few riders, all that remained of a great coalition between half the biker gangs in Tokyo and their allies and rivals in the surrounding areas. In the culmination of two years of planning, they had descended upon Mahora in order to settle the score from the last time. Twelve hundred bikers had roared through the city in search of none other than Urashima Taro. The Street Sweeper, as they called her. Taro knew Takahata-sensei's group had taken care of a few hundred and others were still fighting, but easily twice that many had found her in that park with Possum, Kagami, and Sachiko, and the battle had begun.

Taro sighed again. While she had gained so, so much from all the training she had done with the others in Eva's resort, it seemed she had lost something as well. What had once been her greatest joy—street fighting—was no longer fun. No one was a _challenge_ anymore, not even several hundred bikers. She had also undergone another change, one that had happened so gradually that she hadn't even noticed it until today, during the new motorcycle gang's attack. While before, she had always fought with no thought of anyone but herself, now she found herself keeping in mind where her friends were, and had worked with them during the fight as often as not. It had been quite the shock to realize that fact, and, to Urashima Taro, who had been virtually friendless all her life, the realization that she actually had real friends she could depend on to watch her back when things went bad had made her get a little teary-eyed, though she would never admit it to anyone. _Ever_. She had known she could depend on them in an intellectual sort of way of course; they had all fought together in Eva's resort, after all. But Eva's resort was just Eva's resort, a place where they could forget their problems for a while and just _play_; Mahora was the _real _world, where they had to deal with boring classes and homework and other people outside what Taro had to admit-with more than a little wonder-was actually a pretty wide circle of acquaintances she knew from the resort.

She was starting to get downright _personable_.

"You lost the hat," Kagami said from nearby, out of breath.

Out of Taro's group of closest friends, Kagami was the only one who didn't excel at hand to hand combat, and now she had a bruise on her cheek to prove it. Nevertheless she had done quite well for herself in the battle, especially considering they had all been expressly forbidden from using flashy magic spells—the only kind of magic spells Kagami had—while Negi-sensei's group was gone to Mundus Magicus.

"It's because of you I had to wear the stupid thing," Taro answered roughly to hide the fact that she actually sort of _liked _the hat. The hat was a big, wide-brimmed, floppy white thing, like something a movie star would wear with big sunglasses and a little dress. And, thanks to a losing bet she had made with Kagami earlier in the summer, that had been exactly what she was wearing when the biker gang showed up. Taro's cheeks burned at the memory. Oh, how the biker gang had mocked her when they realized who she was...! They hadn't mocked her for long, however...Taro's fearsome reputation was well-earned, after all, and her friends were no slouches either. "Do you see it anywhere?"

"It's over by Sachiko," Possum said from where she sat panting against a tree nearby, pointing. Taro nodded her thanks and trotted over to where Sachiko stood, looking at the fallen gang members around her in surprise.

"There's my hat," Taro said as she knelt down to pick it up, careful not to mess up the dress Kagami had given her any more than she already had. She pulled the hat out from under a groaning gang member and sighed. "It's got a little blood on it!" she called back to Kagami, waving the hat to show the other girl the extent of the damage.

"That's _never_ going to wash out, you know!" Kagami called back.

Taro sighed again and looked at Sachiko. "You okay? You're kinda spacing out..."

Sachiko looked at Taro and quickly away, but not before Taro caught a glimpse of the excitement Sachiko was feeling. Taro wasn't very good at the whole 'interpersonal interaction' thing, but she _did _know Sachiko had been bothered by something for a long time. Her best guess was that it stemmed from the other girl's defeat at the Martial Arts tournament during the festival. Sachiko wouldn't say anything about it, however, and had tried to stay away from Taro and Kagami and Possum over the days between then and now, with varying levels of success. But whatever the case might have been, Taro knew what she had seen in Sachiko's eyes: the first signs of the girl becoming herself again.

"I'm alright, don't worry about me," Sachiko said as she looked away.

Taro smiled. There was nothing else in the world quite like bonding over the unconscious bodies of the motorcycle gang you had just beaten to a pulp together.

It was how she had met her best friend Possum, after all.

"You looked like you were having fun," Taro said. The way Sachiko had been spinning and jumping around had looked like something out of a video game...Taro had been impressed; she hadn't seen anything out of Sachiko on that level in the resort. Perhaps she had been holding back for some reason...? Taro didn't know, and she wasn't about to ask; even _she _knew that would be a bad idea, what with the way Sachiko had been acting lately.

"I...I guess I was," Sachiko said, finally turning to face Taro.

Taro smiled at her. She thought Sachiko looked almost like she was ashamed of enjoying the fight as much as she did.

Growing embarrassed at the attention being heaped upon her, Sachiko tried to deflect it with a sudden observation. "That dress is very pretty; I like the floral pattern."

It was Taro's turn to look away while Possum and Kagami snickered nearby.

"It's only because I lost a bet," she muttered. And she wasn't still wearing the dress and the matching shoes because she thought it looked pretty and made _her _feel pretty...an alien feeling to one such as Urashima Taro. No, certainly not because of that. Urashima Taro did _not_ wear dresses; this was an incontrovertible fact. The closest thing to a dress that she had ever worn was her school uniform—which featured a skirt—and she always wore bicycle shorts under that. She did _not_ enjoy the dress.

_Definitely _not.

No.

Even if she _did _find the way it flared out at the bottom when she turned quickly to be interesting.

"A-anyway, let's go before somebody comes," Taro said. Already she could hear police sirens in the distance.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Kagami said.

"Yeah...I think I'll go to the clinic under the administration building and get a blood pack," Possum said. "That took a lot out of me..."

Taro nodded in understanding. It had taken some time to get used to Possum as a vampire...Possum herself still wasn't used to it. But Taro had watched her, and Possum was the same Possum she had met back during the first biker gang incident, the same friendly girl who'd stick her neck out for someone she'd only just met. Only, now she had a thirst for blood that she was still struggling to get under control, hence the blood packs from the secret mage clinic. Taro wasn't worried though; if Possum could hold her thirst back during such an extended fight with a bunch of no-name idiots who attacked them for no reason, she wouldn't hurt her friends.

She turned her attention to Sachiko, who was still looking at the fallen bikers. "You coming?"

Sachiko looked up at Taro and the others, hesitated, and nodded.

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, August 26th, 2009<em>

* * *

><p>"The biggest incident all summer, and I <em>missed it<em>...!" Student Number 23, Sato Gin moaned as she flopped down on her classmate Mako Sylvester's bed. Her oddly white hair was flared out prettily over Mako's pillow as she laid there, staring up at the bottom of their classmate Suzuki Keiko's bunk. Word had already gotten around about the previous day's incident with the enormous motorcycle gang gunning for Taro, and Gin had been complaining about being left out for the past ten minutes.

"You shouldn't be so eager to be involved...what if you got hurt?" Mako replied as she continued working on her summer homework. Summer break was almost over, after all, and, as usual, she had put her summer homework off too long. She told herself ever year that she would get it done right away so she could enjoy the summer, but somehow those plans always fell apart.

"They wouldn't have been able to touch me," Gin replied testily. Mako knew it was just bravado speaking; her Gin-chan was a proud girl, but the both of them knew Gin couldn't hold a candle to someone like Urashima Taro or Possum Cade in a street fight. Gin would have had to go all out, and someone probably would have died. As it was, there were on a few serious injuries and a lot of people in jail.

"Mm," Mako replied. She continued with her homework.

Silence fell over the room, broken only by the _scritch-scritch _sound of Mako's pencil on paper as she worked.

"Just one more day until they get back," Gin said musingly.

"And then school starts up again two days after that," Mako said absently. She tried to hide her grin at the face she knew Gin was making at the unwelcome reminder that soon their lazy days of summer vacation would be at an end. Mako would miss these days too. Whiling away the time with Gin-chan wandering around the city, looking in the shops, eating those little cakes from the cake shop by the station...even just sitting around out in the woods, reading a book while Gin-chan practiced the martial arts style she had started to learn from Scary Max-sensei. It had been...Mako blushed. It had been the best summer of her life. She hadn't known what to expect upon coming to Mahora, but to meet such a good friend as Gin-chan...it was like a dream come true for Mako. She hadn't ever had any real friends before, not with her ability. The ability to read emotions and the occasional thought through touch had taught her just how scary the world could be at a very young age, and knowing what people _really_ thought when they found out about her ability was enough to keep her away from others. But Gin-chan? Gin-chan had been so glad to find someone else with a weird ability that she hadn't cared a bit about the fact that Mako could read her emotions; they had clicked together in an instant, and that was all there was to it.

She sort of wished their summer vacation could just continue on, forever.

Right about then, her cell phone beeped, indicating that she had received a text message.

* * *

><p>"Um..."<p>

Kobayashi Ayumi hesitated just outside the open door of dorm room her former bandmate Kara Stride shared with Possum Cade. Kara glanced up at her, but quickly looked away.

They stood there for a moment, Ayumi standing just outside the doorway and Kara standing beside her bed, guitar magazine in hand, neither girl willing to meet the other's gaze.

Finally the awkwardness grew so thick that Ayumi couldn't stand it anymore, and felt like she had to say _something_, _anything_, as long as it broke the silence between them.

"Hey—"

"Look—"

They looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak again, and Ayumi had to fight hard to hold back the grin that threatened to show itself. Kara took a deep breath in preparation to speak, but Ayumi forged ahead and beat her to the punch.

"I'm sorry."

And there it was. She had actually said it. Despite nerves and bad timing, she had tried all summer to work up enough nerve to apologize to Kara for her actions before summer break, and she had finally, _finally_, managed it. It galled her to say those words, but even Ayumi herself knew she had been acting like a total bitch when Kara kicked her out of the band, with that thing with Caro and the scissors, and—Ayumi reluctantly admitted to herself—her jealousy over the fact that Kara had been invited to play with Dekopin Rocket up on stage at the festival instead of Ayumi. Kakizaki Misa was _Ayumi's_ hero, not Kara's, and Dekopin Rocket was Ayumi's most favorite band in the world. Kara hadn't even _known _about them until Ayumi made her listen to some of their songs on CD...! But even so, Ayumi had pushed all of that aside to offer that apology...

And Kara was just staring at her.

Ayumi felt the familiar heat of resentment starting to build deep within her. Why didn't Kara say anything? Didn't she know how much it had hurt Ayumi to say those words...? Ayumi's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched seemingly of its own accord. '_I hate this place. I want to go somewhere else. Anywhere. Anything at all would be better than _this_.'_

And Kara just _stood_ there, staring at her with that dopey look on her face.

"F—"

Ayumi's cell phone—a cheap one she had picked up at a clearance sale downtown—beeped and vibrated in her pocket. Putting aside the issue of Kara's inability to respond to an apology for the moment, Ayumi pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open as she turned and stalked away from Kara's room, leaving the other girl gaping at the empty doorway. To her surprise, she had received a text from a friend of hers she talked to from time to time when she felt the need to speak with someone outside the band...they had even gone to a few rock shows together. Ayumi hadn't seen or heard from the other girl in _weeks _though, not since the beginning of summer break. She frowned as she looked at the text message.

-_Subject: It's been a while-_

_-From: Chisame-_

_-Hey, it's been a while. Want to meet up? There's a show you're going to love. We won't be able to come back today, so pack an overnight bag and meet me in the woods at that clearing I showed you that time. Don't get spotted. See you there.-_

Ayumi, intrigued at her strange friend's unusual message, quickly typed out a response in the affirmative and sent it, and opened the door to the room she shared with her classmates Rosemary Dean and Watanabe Miyako, the latter of whom was _also _an ex-bandmate. To say the situation in the dorm room had been awkward after Ayumi was kicked out of the band would be like saying water was wet. But, luckily, neither girl was in the room at the moment, so Ayumi hurried to the closet and pulled out the backpack she sometimes used to carry a change of clothes whenever she was planning on attending a show somewhere.

She opened the pack and dumped its contents onto the floor of the closet and started grabbing clothes.

* * *

><p>Kara, already thrown off balance by Ayumi's sudden, unexpected appearance, was simply stunned when the overly proud egotistical <em>brat<em> of a girl actually apologized for her actions over a month previous. Kara tried to think of something to say, but the suddenness of the situation had simply left her speechless. The absolute _last _person she had expected to see pop up in her dorm room was Ayumi, who had been avoiding her like the plague for the past month or more; and for her to not only suddenly appear outside her door, but also apologize for her actions? It was mind boggling; Kara couldn't remember the last time she had heard the word 'sorry' come out of Ayumi's mouth free of sarcasm.

Kara had just about worked up a response when she looked Ayumi in the eye and suddenly recalled what had happened the _last _time she had interacted with the girl, right there in Kara's very own dorm room not four feet from where she was standing, and her mouth snapped shut as her brain ground to a halt and she felt her face heating up.

She could tell Ayumi was getting angry and she dearly wanted to respond to her apology, but she was just so _embarrassed_ and _awkward _and she couldn't seen to make her mouth work, not that she could think of anything to actually _say._ Here was a rare chance to make things right between them, and she was just standing there like an idiot, barely able to think, while Ayumi was getting angrier and angrier... She had to say something, anything, to keep Ayumi from getting the wrong impression...!

But, just as Kara started to speak, Ayumi's cell phone beeped and the chance was lost as Ayumi turned and stalked out of the doorway, leaving Kara standing alone in the room, one arm outstretched as if to stop Ayumi from leaving.

"But...but..."

Kara stared at the empty doorway, her eyes going wide as she started to realize the extent of the mistake she had just made. She rushed to the doorway and looked up and down the hallway outside, but Ayumi was gone without a trace. Kara reluctantly took a step back, then turned and wandered over to the bottom bunk, where she sat down heavily and put her head in her hands.

"What do I do now...?" she said mournfully. Almost as if it had heard her question, her cell phone beeped from where it had been left forgotten on the desk, indicating that she had received a message. She went over and picked it up, looking curiously at the small display on the front cover before flipping it open. Her lips tightened to a thin line as she read the message. Seconds later, she was already in action, pausing only long enough to throw some things in a bag and to grab her cane sword from the dresser drawer where she kept it hidden.

"Crap crap crap!" Kara muttered to herself as she pulled the blade halfway out of the cane, tested the sharpness, and then shoved it back in. "When did mama come back to Japan? She just left!" Left unvoiced were Kara's nervous thoughts on just what sort of terrible situation her mother could get into that Kara could possibly hope to overcome when the woman herself could not? It sent chills down her spine, but that message she had just received had said her mother and sister were in danger, so Kara had to do her best to help them out; she wouldn't be able to look at her own face in the mirror tomorrow morning if she didn't.

* * *

><p>They came from all over, singly or in groups of two or three as they filtered through the woods, dressed in their street clothes or whatever they had been wearing when they received the message that had brought them to the well known clearing near Eva's house, each carrying a travel bag or a backpack or similar, as if about to go stay somewhere else overnight. Many of them were pleasantly surprised to see the others there in the woods, while others reacted with suspicion or confusion. The babble of voices grew overwhelming as twenty five girls filled the small clearing and questions and accusations flew.<p>

Hasegawa Chisame watched the scene with an unreadable expression on her face. She had befriended many of those girls milling around in the clearing, carefully cultivated them to get them to this point in time, using her permanently youthful appearance to appear as if she was the same age as they were, all the better to gain their trust. It hadn't been easy; being the person everyone went to for advice or to kill time with was difficult when juggling the attention of over a dozen people, not to mention all the others in Mahora that had to be nudged this way or shoved that way. It hadn't been easy, but she had done it nonetheless, and now...

It was time.

Chisame strolled up out of the woods, doing her best to look casual. Many of those who were present knew she had gone with the rest of Negi's group to Mundus Magicus, while most had no idea who she really was.

"Chisame-chan!" Sasaki Rina squealed excitedly as she squeezed through the crowd. Several heads turned upon hearing Chisame's name, but she ignored it and focused on Rina; somehow, seeing the girl tended to bring her back down to earth for a time. An unfortunately short time, true, but all the same, she couldn't help but like the girl.

"Hello, Rina-chan," she said, smiling at the girl.

"Why didn't you tell me everyone was going to be here?" Rina asked, pouting at her.

Chisame marveled for a moment on the easy familiarity with which Rina addressed her, this girl who had only lived for a little over fifteen years while Chisame herself had lived for _thousands_ by this point, though she had regrettably lost track somewhere back among the line as she trekked from world to world, ever pursuing her quest. She smiled gently at Rina in the way that always made the girl cheer up, but someone interrupted before she could speak.

"Yeah, that's what I want to know," Kobayashi Ayumi said irritably as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why did you have to go and invite _everybody_? I thought it was just us going to that concert!"

Chisame changed her gentle smile to a carefully practiced rueful grin as she turned to look at Ayumi. "Sorry about that, Ayumi; I didn't think you'd come if I mentioned it..." she said, pitching her voice _just so_ to leave the girl a little less tense than before. Ayumi was a real bitch to deal with, but, like the others, she was necessary.

"You're supposed to be with _them_," a new voice growled, and Chisame turned to find Urashima Taro trying to loom over her with her friend Mochizuki Kagami right beside her, both of them looking at her suspiciously while Nakamura Sachiko and Possum Cade stood nearby.

Chisame mentally cursed at Taro's unexpectedly sudden interruption and decided to switch gears. Normally at this point she would engage in a whole series of questions and answers designed to calm everyone and get them easier to handle, but, every once in a while, maybe once in two or three dozen worlds, Taro would interrupt her before she could get going. The easy way to deal with it was to tell the truth. Or _part _of the truth, anyway. The hard way involved fire. Lots and lots of fire. And _that_ never helped _anything_. She knew. She had tried it.

"I was, and that's why I'm here now," Chisame said sharply, meeting Taro'sdeathglare and holding it with ease, much to the other girl's surprise. Taro didn't know a thing about her other than that she had been picked to go along with the rest of Negi's group; the girl had no way of knowing that Chisame had looked much worse things in the eye than Urashima Taro, though the girl was far richer in power than she realized, both physically and in other terms...but that was for later.

"Now help me out or stand back and shut up; the choice is yours." Without giving Taro a chance to reply, she turned around and found everyone looking at her, confusion and suspicion in the eyes of most of them. Those who knew her as a friend were mostly confused, wondering why she was acting so strange, while those who knew her only as a fellow denizen of Eva's resort were generally wondering why she was being so chatty. A flash of irritation came over her at their murmurs and Chisame stood up tall, cast a small sound amplifying spell, and let loose on them. "_SHUT UP! _Everyone, shut UP!" She waited until everyone had gone quiet before continuing. "Most of you know me, but for those who don't, my name is Hasegawa Chisame. I'm a friend of Negi Springfield." She waited until the expected hubbub had died back down. "Everyone knows he went on a trip at the beginning of summer break, correct? Well, he needs help, and you are the only ones who can help him. So stand in a circle! Quickly! There isn't much time..."

Kobayashi Ayumi glared at the girl she had thought of as a friend, what she saw as Chisame's betrayal ('_How DARE she trick me like this?!'_) burning in her mind, distracting her from what she was feeling about Kara. She almost wanted to stomp over there and slap her in the face, but that goon Urashima Taro was standing between them, and while Ayumi might have been hot headed, she wasn't _stupid _by any stretch of the imagination. So, instead of freaking out, screaming, and hitting the girl, she did as she was told, and moved to stand between her classmates Sasaki Rina and Yoshida Ume, two of the few she wasn't annoyed with at the moment.

"Is everyone in place?" Chisame asked as she looked around at everyone from her place in the circle. "Okay! Everyone hold hands!"

Ayumi just looked at her blankly from across the circle. '"_Hold hands?" What is this, preschool?' _Ayumi thought, sneering at the idea as she looked away. Just then, she felt someone watching her and looked up to see Chisame _looking_ at her from the other side of the circle, suddenly seeming quite scary. Ayumi took Rina and Ume's hands.

"This is stupid," she muttered, quietly enough for Chisame not to hear. Chisame had blown it, as far as Ayumi was concerned; she'd never trust Chisame ever again. Never ever.

"Is everyone holding hands?" Chisame asked as she scanned the circle. "Good. Now whatever happens, don't let go. If you get scared, just remember: it's only CG, right?" she said, making a crooked grin that wasn't the least bit amused.

"It's...only CG?" Rina repeated under her breath as she squeezed Ayumi's hand. Ayumi shot the girl a glare; Rina was such a crybaby, Ayumi didn't see how she had _any_ friends.

That was the point where the wind kicked up violently and weird lines and weird squiggles and circles appeared on the ground, shining so brightly Ayumi let out a startled cry and shut her eyes. Rina let out a shriek on one side of her, a sound that cut through Ayumi's sudden panic. She looked to her left at Yoshida Ume, and was surprised to see the girl clenching her jaw and standing steady while everyone around her panicked. Ayumi quickly looked around the circle at the others, and was surprised at just how many of them didn't seem scared...that simple fact helped to calm her down quite a bit, even though Rina was practically crying next to her.

"Hold each other's hands! Don't let go!" Chisame shouted, her voice somehow loud enough to be heard clearly over the wind. Ayumi almost let go of Rina and Ume's hands just to spite her, but Rina was frantically squeezing her right hand and Ume, though she looked quite calm, had Ayumi's left hand in a death grip.

"Keep calm!" Chisame called out over the wind. "It's only CG!"

"It's only CG, it's only CG, it's only CG," Rina repeated under her breath as she squeezed her eyes shut. Ayumi was about to tell her to shut up when the shiny lines on the ground got a lot brighter and the roar of the wind got so loud she couldn't even hear herself think. The air itself glowed so brightly that she felt she had to clench her eyes shut or go blind. She distantly heard someone screaming, and then everything _changed_.

With her eyes shut and the wind blowing and people screaming around her, the first thing she noticed was the _smell_. It was..._different _in a way she couldn't explain. It was as if something that had always been there had been suddenly taken away without warning...and then a sudden blast of thunder shook the ground hard enough to knock her down and Ayumi opened her eyes on what had to be a battlefield.

They were trapped between two opposing armies lined up to do battle. A little voice in the back of her mind, trying to make sense of the insanity that had entered her life so suddenly, insisted that they had to be cosplayers, but all it took was a glance to see that they weren't.

"_Ambush_...!" someone roared, and the scene turned to chaos. Rina started screaming, and then the world exploded under Ayumi's feet. There was a brief moment where she felt weightless, and then she saw the ground rushing up to meet her. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs, but other than the ringing in her ears she was unhurt. There wasn't any time to recover, however; people with swords and spears and weird looking staffs sticks were rushing around, the air was full of the smell of ozone, and the very earth itself seemed full of static.

Ayumi got her hands under her and pushed herself up off the ground, only for some soldier to charge by and strike her head a glancing blow with his knee. She hit the ground and let out a cry. She was dimly aware of a great deal of movement and noise going on all around her, but everything was fuzzy, indistinct...she shook her head to clear it and looked up just in time to see a soldier running at her, his sword held high. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she struggled to get up and run away, but her body didn't want to obey her; her arms were too weak to lift her and her legs were shaking too badly to support her weight. She tried to scramble back, away from him, but she couldn't seem to find purchase on the ground, and he was _right there_. Someone grabbed her left arm and Rina started screaming in her ear.

She saw every detail of the soldier's face, from his scraggly barely-there mustache to his bright green eyes, and realized he couldn't have been much older than she was herself, and yet here he was, trying to kill her, and she couldn't even get away. He stopped right in front of her and raised his sword high. She opened her mouth to scream, and then _she_ was there. Ayumi was struck silent in awe as a stunningly beautiful girl stepped in front of her and, with one quick flick of her wrist, cut the young man across the neck with a long, straight sword and he fell back, his eyes bulging as the stared at her and fell backward. Kara turned back to look at her, worry in her eyes, and Ayumi's gaze locked on to the girl's face. '_...doesn't...doesn't she hate me...?'_

But it didn't matter. Ayumi saw movement behind Kara, saw a man appear over Kara's shoulder, but she couldn't seem to make her voice work to scream out a warning. Nevertheless, Kara seemed to realize something was wrong; she whirled again, blade flashing in the sunlight, and cut the man across the face. He screamed and fell back, but before Kara could recover the man behind _him_ lashed out with his own sword, slashing Kara across the face.

Ayumi watched, horrified, as Kara screeched and blood flew and she arched backward and fell on Ayumi, dropping her sword as she slapped her hands over her eyes, screaming. Ayumi caught a glimpse of Kara's face before she covered it, and that was enough to finally snap her out of it.

Ayumi screamed and shoved Kara out of her lap, unmindful of the girl's blood all over her clothes, and shook Rina off her arm. She scrambled to her feet and looked for a way out, some way to escape the insanity of the world around her, but all was chaos around her.

Ayumi looked around helplessly; Kara was squirming on the ground with her teeth clenched, but she was at least no longer screaming. A quick look around showed her that the fighting where she and the rest of her class had been brought to this horrible place appeared to be picking up, though no more soldiers came near them. Ayumi didn't understand why that might be so, but she decided she didn't care so long as they stayed away. She looked down at Rina, who had latched on to her leg, and then down at Kara, who had finally managed to sit up, though she still had a hand pressed over her eyes while her other hand patted the ground, as if searching for something while her body shook with muffled sobs. '_She saved me,' _Ayumi thought, mystified. And since when could Kara use a sword? Ayumi hadn't ever seen her practicing with it or anything like some of the clubs did... Ayumi spotted the bloody sword Kara had been using lying in the grass nearby and nudged it closer to Kara with her foot; she didn't want to touch it with her hands. The other girl's hand found the blade, paused, and quickly wrapped around the hilt and drew it close.

This was _nothing _like battle scenes on TV or in movies, from what Ayumi could see. And the stench...! It was terrible, like blood and sewers. Ayumi _dearly_ wanted to run away, but she was completely surrounded; men were fighting to the death all around them and explosions were happening all over the place, throwing men and chunks of earth high into the sky. The noise was deafening. What just _had _ to be a lightning bolt struck close by, making her hair feel as if it would stand on end and leaving behind the strong smell of ozone, and Ayumi shrieked and stumbled backward as the earth exploded upward fifteen feet away. With Rina still clutching her leg, she lost her balance and fell flat on her back...and stared.

There, up in the sky, was a witch riding on a broom.

The image was so striking in its very _plainness _that Ayumi couldn't even bring herself to try and deny it. The witch was nothing like what she might have imagined: there were no sparkles, nothing obviously _magical_ like on TV...it was just a girl in a pointy hat and cape flying along on a broom, as if riding a broom was a perfectly legitimate mode of transportation. The witch girl circled around the area they were in, then swooped down toward them and landed softly on her feet.

"What are you doing here?!" the girl demanded as she rushed over and knelt down beside Kara.

"Wha-?!" Ayumi asked, taken aback.

The witch girl pulled Kara's hand back from her face and Ayumi's stomach lurched; she quickly turned away, her eyes wide. She wouldn't forget _that_ sight, not in a hundred years...! The sight of Kara's otherwise pretty face, cut right across the- Ayumi shook her head to clear it of that horrible image, but it didn't work.

"Ayase!" Taro called out as she rushed up.

"What happened? Why are you here? How many are there?" the girl demanded of Taro as she unslung what Ayumi thought looked like a messenger bag from over her shoulder and sat it down on the ground beside her. "I need Konoka here _now!_" the girl abruptly shouted, apparently at herself for all Ayumi could tell.

"Chisame," Taro growled as she watched the girl tend to Kara. "Hasegawa Chisame brought us here; the whole class, so it should be twenty five altogether since Eva and Rally and Chachamaru left with you. Kagami and Sachi both say they got a message on their cell phones, calling them out into the woods near Eva's house...I got the same message. She said to bring whatever we would need for a trip, and that Negi-sensei needed our help. This is...this is Mundus Magicus, isn't it?"

Ayase looked up at Taro, confused, the small box she had just taken out of the bag left forgotten in her hand. "That is correct. But I don't understand; Chisame is supposed to be doing research for us in Tristan. As for needing help, things haven't gone according to plan but they're not so desperate that we need to bring all of you into it, especially those without training," she said, briefly eyeing Ayumi. "Also, Chisame shouldn't have the sort of power necessary to operate the kind of teleportation array required to move so many people in the first place! That is extremely high class magic that usually requires at least a dozen powerful mages working together and following very strict rituals."

"Tell that to Chisame," Taro said, her expression conveying everything one might want to know about her opinion on Hasegawa Chisame at that point in time.

"Is she..." Ayumi said when the other two finally stopped talking about boring things she didn't understand. She look down at Kara, her mind a confused swirl of thoughts. She didn't even really register the comments about magic; she was still trying to catch up to 'suddenly being surrounded by soldiers'. "Is she...is she all right?"

"She will be," 'Ayase' said with a confidence Ayumi wished she could feel as she sat the box down on the ground and opened it to reveal a collection of bandages, ointments, and several test tubes of colored liquid. Ayumi eyed all this uncomprehendingly. She thought she might have seen the witch girl somewhere before...it struck her a moment later that she had seen her working the desk when everyone went to Library Island to get resources for a report they had been assigned in class. "Nodoka! I need Konoka or Natsumi here immediately! It's an emergency; I have badly wounded over here," Ayase said, again seemingly to herself as she knelt down and placed a pad of rolled cloth over Kara's ravaged eyes and then tied it in place with a strip of clean cloth that she wrapped around Kara's head like a blindfold. With that done, she picked up one of the test tubes and pulled the stopper out of the top before putting it to Kara's lips. "Drink this." Kara made a face at the taste, but did as she was told, and Ayase put the empty test tube back and started dabbing at the blood that covered the girl's face. "Please, sit still, help will be along in just a moment," she said to Kara as she worked on cleaning up her face. "Correct; it looks like the whole class is here," she said a few seconds later to whoever she had been talking to before.

"Everyone is together," the class rep said as she trotted up. "Abe-san put a barrier up but I don't know how long it will hold." She seemed to notice Kara's injury just then and froze in place, staring. "Is-" And then...she wasn't there anymore. Ayumi blinked, looking at the spot where Nakamura Sachiko, class rep of Negi Springfield's current class, had been standing mere seconds before, but there was nothing there. Taro was looking blankly at the empty spot as well, her mouth hanging open.

"What did you say?" Ayase asked, looking back at where Sachiko had been. She, too, froze, staring in wide eyed surprise. A second or two later, a quick moving bolt of light flew right past Ayumi's face and struck Taro in the chest. And, just like that, Taro was gone too. Vanished, right before her eyes. Ayumi stared for a moment, then Rina shrieked and Ayase tackled her to the ground as another bolt shot through the space where she had been an instant before.

"_Gin-chan!" _someone shrieked behind them. Ayumi looked back and saw her classmate Mako Sylvester, fallen to her knees, staring at a spot on the ground.

"What's going on?!" Rina screeched.

"I am under attack! _I am under attack!" _Ayase screamed as she tried to cover both Ayumi and Rina with her body. "We have taken casualties, I need assistance immediately!"

Ayumi shoved the witch girl aside and reached for Kara's arm to drag her closer when she saw Chisame come stalking up through the battlefield, a cold, distant expression on her face as she ignored the soldiers fighting all around her and focused on Ayumi's group. She lifted her hand, pointed at Kara, and a bolt of light shot from her finger, hit Kara in the midsection, and Kara was gone without a sound.

Ayumi looked at the place where Kara had been lying and screamed. There was nothing there. There was _nothing there_. No body, no extra blood, no..._pieces_...lying around...it was as if Kara had never existed.

"Chisame...? No...no way..." Ayase said. "Why are you doing this? Why are you—"

Chisame didn't even bother to give her a response; she raised her hand and blasted her with a bolt of lightning. Ayase let out a cry and was sent flying.

"Ch...Chisame...I-I...I..." Ayumi said as she tried to scoot back away from the friend who had suddenly shown a whole new side of herself that Ayumi had never seen before. '_Kara! Oh my God Kara! She's gone! She's just GONE_!' "Wh-what are you...are...are you going to kill me...?"

Chisame smiled; somehow Ayumi preferred the coldness of her previous expression to that sad, cynical smile. "You probably don't understand...don't worry. None of them do. Just be a good girl and take it, will you?" she said as she raised her hand. "Oh, and watch out for the octopus, okay?"

Ayumi heard someone shout, saw the surprise and sudden spark of interest in Chisame's eyes as she whirled to face none other than Akashi Yuuna, the previous dorm mother of the girls' dorm rushed in. Too shocked and confused by the situation to even wonder why Yuuna was there on a battlefield, Ayumi took the opportunity to scramble to her feet and run with Rina following right behind her. Ayumi glanced back over her shoulder, saw Yuuna try to tackle Chisame only to get a bolt to the head for her troubles. Ayumi screamed again as the woman she had thought of as the coolest dorm mother she had had since coming to Mahora vanished without a trace. Chisame turned back to face her, and Ayumi did the only thing she could think of: she grabbed Rina's wrist and yanked the other girl into the path of the bolt Chisame shot at her.

Ayumi looked in Rina's eyes as the bolt hit her, saw the surprise and accusation in them, and then Rina was gone. Ayumi screamed again and scrambled back into the mass of panicking girls that Chisame had brought to this horrible place, doing her best to keep someone between her and the crazy girl. Everyone was screaming and pushing, but some were trying to play hero and go after Chisame; Ayumi saw Takahashi Shizuko, Mochizuki Kagami, and even that goody-two-shoes Hayashi Fujiko among others all try to rush her, only for each one of them to get deleted or disintegrated or whatever it was Chisame was doing to everyone. '_Oh Kara...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...! I wish I could have told you before—' _Ayumi screamed again as another bolt missed her face by a hair's breadth, and dove into a group of panicking girls. She ran straight into her ex-bandmate Kondo Kai, and then screamed as another bolt hit Kai in the face and she vanished before she could speak. Finally breaking free of the crowd, Ayumi turned tail and ran as hard as she could, screaming, her fear for her life so powerful she couldn't even _think_.

She ran and she ran and she ran, screaming the whole time, heedless of where she was going so long as it was away from Chisame. '_Oh my God oh my God oh my God...!' _She was just beginning to think she might have made it when a bolt of light shot past her, and then something that felt like a white hot blade struck her in the back and everything went black.


End file.
